Shattered Worlds
by Vampirepancakes
Summary: Thirty years into a post apocalyptic world, Damon and Bonnie meet as strangers, coming from completely different ways of life. But, learn that despite their differences, they have the common goal of surviving in such a brutal world. Soon they team up together on a cross country journey to find one of the last beacons of hope that humanity has left. All HUMAN
1. Chapter 1

It came like one massive, destructive wave, the event that caused the apocalypse and nearly wiped out all of humankind, on the verge of making humans become extinct. The event that was so horrific that it caused terror to reign down on the entire world. It happened thirty years ago and it was the fault of man. Humans that worked for the largest and most richest countries and governments in the world had been working on a secret experiment. A secret that was so well kept that the general public was never aware about it, not even some of the people who worked for these governments knew about it. It was among the most classified informations that had ever existed in the world.

And this secret was for the years leading up to the apocalyptic event, was the government's hiring scientists to work on this machine. A machine that had been built out in the middle of nowhere and was the size of an average large tall building, yet had the power to affect the whole entire earth. This machine was meant to do good, as it was intended to stop the impact of earth's global warming and climate change issues through the planet's weather and temperature system. The hopes was to reverse any damage that might have been done. However, just like anything that man had created, this machine has it's massive flaws.

Something went terribly wrong, when the machine set off by itself through the error of a malfunctioning computer and was set off way before the people who worked on it was ready to set it off. And just days after the machine was set off, the large change in the earth's weather pattern happened. And as a result catastrophic storms were set off around the globe, with winds hundreds of miles per hour, reaching up to the strength of a strong tornado or the strongest hurricanes that the world had ever seen. In some cases even surpassing the winds of the strongest hurricanes.

Along with the winds, there was also torrential downpours of rain that caused history making flooding. If people didn't have to deal with the storms, then it other parts of the earth they had to deal with blizzards that would dump so much snow at one time that it buried people in their homes and made many freeze to death. Still other parts of the world had to deal with massive wildfires that burned acres and acres and acres of land.

Many homes were destroyed by all of these events, leaving millions with no place to live anymore. Millions upon millions had died as a direct result of these the weather gone wrong. For months this machine caused these destructive events to go on all across the world relentlessly, non-stop there was hardly a place on earth where people weren't impacted by this. After months of this machine going haywire, a group of soldiers managed to bomb it, blowing it up and bringing the destruction to a stop.

But, by that time it had been far too late. Millions had already died from the events and the world had been thrown into complete utter chaos. The United States governments and all of the governments of the world collapsed, unable to deal with the fall out and the load of what had been caused. Because of this, people started to rule for themselves and it was like the purge taking place with the laws of the land no longer enforced.

These events had also caused electricity to be knocked out in the majority of the world, to never come back on again. Mass stale food production which had supplied all of the grocery stores and supermarkets had been wiped out, and the transportation system that had delivered food all of the country and the world had been shut down and could no longer get food to people. Because of this people ransacked stores and places for food and after a few months, most of these places shelves were empty of food.

As a result of the lack of food being able on a wide scale, the years following after the event had millions die from starvation and hunger. Hundreds of thousands more died from illness and injuries since there were no longer hospitals around like they used to be. In grand total, many, many people had died as a direct or indirect result of that machine. And because so many had died, the world was never the same and would never be the same as it was before the event happened. Society had broken down and nearly caved in on itself.

Over the next thirty years the world became one where people were left to fend for themselves. It became a brutal and vicious world where a person had to go to the extremes just to survive. This was what the world had become for those who survived the event or were born after it. One where there were people who either killed to be cruel and cold blooded as a way to try and maintain control and the upper hand over others, and those who killed to defend themselves and their livelihood. Either way it was a kill or be killed world. And some in the world liked being evil and mean human beings for that sense of power. Violence and killing was at an all time high for left to live on earth.

For food those who learned to grow vegetables or fruit in a garden, or on trees. And or those who knew how to hunt down animals had the best chance at survival as far as eating goes. Another way was the fact that there were places that produced on a small scale canned food items and packaged, non perishable foods. However, these places were precious and only a few people had access to them or knew where they were. Sometimes people who have to go days, even weeks without eating for the lack of food. Food was one of the things that people killed over just to get or keep.

In this dark and malicious world, that was barely clinging onto humanity, people could be divided into five main groups.

The Drifters. A nickname for loners or a lone wolf, who stayed alone and by themselves. Not teaming up with or being around other people for too long. And thought of their chances at survival at being alone, better than being around a bunch of people. These people traveled the world alone or stayed mostly among themselves.

The Gropers. Opposite of drifters and thought that the chances of surviving where better with being in a team or in a group of people. Their saying was 'safety in numbers'. People who still had surviving family members around were more likely to be a grouper.

The Militia. Which was what was left on the United States military gone rogue. But, had none of the honor or prestige of what the military once had. They didn't follow the rule of the government that was no longer there. They made up their rules to force on others. They used their advantage of the weapons that they had to force their law and rules, over the areas that they were in.

The Militia had evolved into this cruel and evil force. One who murdered, assaulted, beaten, tortured, and raped anyone who wasn't a part of their force. With them it was either comply or be killed. And for these reasons many people feared them and the pain to innocent people that they had caused. Some were lucky into to live in areas where these people didn't reach.

The Bandits. Those who stole food and items from others and took from others for their own survival.

The Cannibals. Which was self explanatory. Since food was so hard to come by for some people, the cannibals would get theirs from the bodies of dead people. Or some of the more vicious cannibals would actually hunt people down to eat or keep them held prisoner to kill when they ran out of food.

Twenty year old Bonnie Bennett, who was born ten years after the post apocalypse event happened, was a Drifter. Her mother had died soon after she had given birth to Bonnie, because of some pregnancy complications and the lack of modern medical care. This left her father to struggle to raise in as a single parent, in such a vicious world. He had tried his best and had done all that he could to make sure that she survived in such a world. And loved her as a father was suppose to live their child, Bonnie was very close to her father and he had tried giving her the best childhood that was available for the world that they were living in.

But, it was a cruel one and no matter how hard he tried, her father had become a victim of the this world. When Bonnie was just eleven years old her father had been taken away from her, in a cold blooded way. And that left her alone by herself, to fend and fight for herself in order to survive. She was just a child at the time of her father's death and yet had to quickly brush her grief to the side in order to adjust and learn how to survive and live by herself.

At a very young age, she had to learn how to use guns and other weapons to defend herself. She had to find food on her own to eat, she had to learn how to hunt, fish, and forage for her own food. Foraging meant that she relied on the wild as part of her food source. Knowing which wild plants were good to eat or even having to eat bugs which didn't taste that great, but provided for a good source of protein. She did what she had to do in order to live.

Her father's death, combined with the years of having to fight to survive had shaped Bonnie Bennett into a tough, strong, steely, hard stoned woman who had kept everyone at a distance. Only dealing with others on a business type level. Some people might have viewed her to be cold and off putting because of this, but she saw it just as having to be this way in order to live. In this place one couldn't afford to be too soft or open. Bonnie was just for herself above all others.

She preferred being a lone wolf, because as she saw it the more people that a person was with, the more mouths that would needed to be feed, that meant less food to go around, in a world where food was already hard to come by. More people would also mean more people you would have to defend or worry about. And sometimes groups of people could draw attention from one of the more vicious groups. This was way Bonnie stayed alone and only dealt with other people on a business level.

A age twelve she had become a smuggler, she sneak in weapons and other items to other people, in exchange for food, clothes, toothpaste, bathing soap and whatever else she needed for her own survival. And she kept weapons to defend herself with. She had killed more people than she could count on her two hands. But, she only killed to defend herself, when someone else tried to kill or assault her or cause her harm in some way and killed if someone crossed her path and tried to diminish her chances at surviving. She wasn't one of those people who went out of their way to kill and wasn't proud of any of the killings that she had done. She didn't consider herself as a good guy because in this world there was really no such thing. Killing just had to be done sometimes if a person wanted to live.

After some months of smuggling around the west, Bonnie had settled down for a little while in Arizona. She found a house that had been long ago abandoned and stepped into it making it her own. She had spent the last three months there and had picked it because of it being in an area with no other houses around, which meant that there was less chances of running into people that had wanted to kill her. This is where she decided that she would stay until it was time for her to smuggle again for more food, clothes, and items that she needed to survive. But, she had gathered into to last her for about a month or so more.

Currently she was out in the woods foraging for wild food, that would extend the food supply that she had back at the house. Even though no other person was around she still armed herself with two pistols, which were in hostlers one on one side of the body and the other on the other side. And a hunting knife that she had strapped to he thigh. Never knew when you might run into a person with evil intentions.

For a couple an hours, she had been gathering up wild mushrooms and other plants to eat, thinking to herself that this plus the food that she had back at the house was going to make for a pretty decent dinner tonight. Bonnie looked up at the sky, the sun would be setting in about an hour and a half from what she could judge. She thought that now would be a good time to make her way back to the house, to settle in for the night and secure everything down. After forging for a little while longer, Bonnie went to do just that.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Damon Salvatore was so damn hungry, passed hungry he was starving. It had been days, almost a week since he had anything substantial to eat. And he had been walking for weeks now on his own, trying to find a new place to settle down in. Especially one where there was enough food. It didn't use to always be this way, there was a time where he was supplied with plenty of food for the world that he was living in anyway.

But, things had changed and for weeks due to some circumstances he had to find different sources of food, which was hard to do. Damon was twenty-two years old and he was a bandit. He stole food and other items from people for the sake of preserving himself and living. Yeah, it may have been selfish to steal from others and to take what wasn't yours, but stealing wasn't as bad as some of the things that other people did to survive. He would know that better himself as because of what he used to be.

Damon shook his head, he wasn't that anymore though and he just wanted to live. Living meant getting some food in his belly that was growling and begging him to eat. Damon looked rough and rugged, with his thick black hair and his five o'clock shadow beard and in his wore out, dirty clothes. He was armed with a rifle, a revolver and a hunting knife.

Finally after what seemed like forever, he came upon something that might be a hope for some sign of food. It was a house that was just about in the middle of nowhere. Looking around he could see no other soul in sight, so he made his way carefully up to the house. Peeping in through the windows from the outside, he couldn't see anything inside of the small house. So, he tested the door handle and saw that it was unlocked. He opened the door and walked in, slowly looking around.

The house was empty, as in there was no other person in it at the time, but he could tell that someone was staying there currently or had been recently from how everything was clean and neatly organized. Which was great news for him, because if someone was staying there, then that meant the better chances for food was there. Searching throughout the house, Damon could see that whoever had been living there was one hell of a survivalist. Perhaps he would take some items for himself before he left. But, now the goal was to get some food into him.

Walking into the kitchen Damon spotted something that he hadn't seen in weeks food. Thanking the heavens he made his way up to the stash of food. There were a variety of dried fruits that included raisins,cranberries, and apples, not fresh fruits but still good nonetheless. There was also crackers that appeared to be stale, but was eablie. And there was a plastic ziplock bag filled with beef jerky and a few granola bars as well. He was even too hungry to see what other foods that this person had in the house.

He just thanked the heavens and started grabbing at the food, chowing down on the beef jerky and gulping down the raisins and dried cranberries. Tearing into the crackers. He didn't realize that maybe he should just take the food and get out, before the person that owned it came back. Then again hunger could affect a person's mental state sometimes.

Damon was in the middle of chowing down, when he heard the click of the gun and cursed to himself he had been caught. He was so busy attending to the food that he didn't hear this person come in.

"Who in the hell are you?" Asked a voice which was clearly displeased that he was there.

It was a woman's voice, startled Damon's icy blue eyes widened. He turned and saw her, she was a petite woman, dressed in a hoodie with the hood pulled over her head and had emerald green eyes which were currently glaring at him. She also had a pistol raised and was pointing it at him.

She definitely wasn't happy to see him there and looked like she wanted to kill him at the moment. 'Nice going Salvatore' Damon thought to himself.

"I….I can explain." Damon stuttered.

Bonnie responded her voice stone cold and filled with ice. "Explain why I shouldn't put a bullet in your head, for breaking into my house and stealing my fucking food."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **This is a short kind of teaser chapter to set things up. I always wanted to do a post apocalyptic story for Bamon for a while now and finally have. Me going on with this story will depend on how much support and reviews that it gets. If it gets enough people want me to go on with this story then I will go on with it. So please give me feedback, I still plan on sticking with Don't Forget About Me, but just wanted to write this.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I missed.**


	2. Chapter 2

This green eyed, brown skinned woman had her pistol aimed directly at him and looked very pissed off that he was eating her food. Damon cursed his starving stomach for not allowing him to think smarter, he knew that he should have known better than to be caught taking from someone else. Some people reacted in more of an aggressive manner to their things being stolen, especially in this world where every piece of certain things were precious to surviving.

And it was obvious now that the home in which he currently invaded was this woman's. He saw that he was in between a rock and a hard place, especially when he realized that she had a gun in her hands and he didn't. He had laid his long-gun rifle down to eat some of the food in which he had found. His rifle was just an arm's length away, leaning against the counter. Perhaps if he was quick enough he could grab the rifle and aim it at her, somehow rattling her and getting her to drop her gun. Or at least defend himself and shot back, if she decided to shoot him.

His eyes shifted towards his rifle as he considered doing this.

She saw his eye movement and the rifle and step closer, with her gun still raised. "Move one inch towards your gun and I'll blow your head off of your shoulders, I swear." She warned, reading his mind.

His eyes scanned the stone cold expression on her face, giving him the feelings that this woman appeared to be woman who was hardened by the world in which they were living in. The tone in her voice and it's threat was very serious, like she meant every word and that she would shoot him if he tried to reach for his rifle. He didn't know how fast her trigger finger was, but he knew that it wasn't a good idea to test her out or he could very well end up with his head blown off of his shoulders.

Since reaching for his rifle wasn't an option, he knew that there was only one other way that he could get himself out of his situation and that was too talk his way out of it.

"Hey, easy there." Damon spoke.

"Raise your hands in the air and don't move." Bonnie commanded.

"Whoa, I don't mean you any harm." Damon told her.

"I said raise your damn hands in the air." Bonnie repeated with impatience.

He put his hands in the air. "Okay, okay."

She returned. "Now, explain to me why I shouldn't kill you in this very spot."

He responded. "Because I'm not a threat to you and didn't try to hurt you."

She scoffed. "I would say otherwise."

Damon questioned. "Otherwise? In what way did I threaten your life?"

Bonnie let him know. "Stealing my food on a planet where something to eat is so hard to come by, yeah I would say that you threatened my life. Even if not directly."

Damon defended. "I was starving, you know how it can affect your judgment and thoughts when your body is deprived of food, I haven't eaten in days."

"I don't give a shit about the reason." Bonnie cut him off. "I just know that I have a major problem with people taking stuff that is mine."

"Alright, you're upset that I took your food and you have a right to be." Damon stated in hopes to cool this angry woman down. "My bad, I'm sorry for stealing your shit."

Bonnie glared at him. "Bullshit, you're only sorry that you got caught."

Which was true, Damon admitted to himself. If he didn't have a gun pointed at him, with this woman looking like she was ready to end his life at any second, then he wouldn't have given a damn about the food that he stole from her. Not if it meant putting food into his belly.

However, he keep this to himself and wasn't going to let her know that. "No, I'm actually truly sorry. Let me go and I won't touch anymore of your food. And we can act like this encounter never happened."

She snapped out at him. "I'm no fool, once a thief, always a thief. If I let you go now, how do I know for sure that you won't come back and try to take more of my food or my other stuff without my permission. The way to insure that it doesn't happen is to put a bullet into your brain."

Damon swallowed, man she sure was tough and hardened, whoever she was it was clear that she was the type not to take any mess from anyone. And the type to seem like she would kill without hesitation if someone gave her a reason to. Such as him taking the food that she held dear to her. He couldn't blame her though, as he imagined that he himself would be pissed if someone stole food from him, in this post apocalyptic environment.

"I work my ass off for everything that I can get my hands on, everything that is important for me to live. I scrap and fight tooth and nail for. Especially elements in which are important to surviving in a time and place like this. I fight until I'm bruised black and blue for everything that I earn." Bonnie clinched her teeth. "So I'm don't take kindly to people taking something that I fought for, doesn't matter if you take a little or a lot. You harm my chances of surviving, even by the slightest and I consider your life fair game in order to be ended my me. And stealing is one of the most cowardly, underhanded things that a person can do."

"I can see that I obviously made a major mistaken in taking food from the wrong person." Damon confessed. "But, that mistake shouldn't cost me my life."

"Why shouldn't it?" She asked in a deadly tone.

"Fine, yes my number one concern was feeding myself, to prevent me dying from hunger and I didn't care about who I wanted to take it from." Damon admitted.

"I should thank you for being honest for the first time since you set foot into this house." Her tone was sarcastic.

Damon tried to stay calm, even while having a gun pointed at him was really starting to irritate him. "And it's no different from you, as I'm sure that your number one concern is yourself as well, you do all it takes to survive, just like I do."

Bonnie sneered. "I think that you and I have different methods of surviving."

Damon pointed out. "Yet, still the same concerns and goals when it comes to living."

She shrugged. "Still haven't given me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"If you keep me alive, I guarantee that I will make it up to you." Damon babbled.

"How?" Bonnie was in disbelief of this.

"I'll replace all of your food that I ate, plus tenfold that." Damon mentioned.

"Not a good enough reason." Bonnie directed.

"We could team up together and enhance our chances of survival that way." Damon suggested

Bonnie rejected the notion. "Why would I want to team up with someone who tried to steal from me."

Damon raised his voice slightly. "Look, people have done worse things besides stealing in order to live."

Bonnie simply said. "I don't team up with anyone."

"Why not?" Damon wondered.

"I prefer to work and live on my own, I don't need teammates." Bonnie responded.

"I see, you must be a loner then." Damon smirked.

"And you're a bandit, who steals things from people who have worked hard to earn them." Bonnie retorted.

"Touche." Damon had some snark in his voice this time. "But, don't you think that your odds are better with someone by your side, another person there to help you get access to food and other sources that you need to live."

Bonnie stated. "Seem to be doing just fine by myself and I have been a lone wolf for years."

Damon pressed. "You sure that I can't change your mind on that."

Bonnie sharply replied. "No."

Damon went on. "Just saying, I know methods and access to ways of survival that most people don't know. And it's obvious that you have done well for yourself in your own ways of survival. So, if we combine those efforts, then we could make for one badass, strong team of two."

"I repeat, no." She said again.

"Listen to me, I don't have to be your adversary when I could be your teammate and I promise you that I would have your back." Damon directed at her,

But, no matter what he was saying, Bonnie still wasn't convinced just yet.

He realized more and more, that he had to think quick on his feet. He had to come up with an offer so good, so it would assure her not to kill him and that they could work together, But, what could such an offer be. That was when he remembered something, something that had just came to his mind, about what he had heard. He wasn't even sure that this something was one hundred percent accurate, however in this moment he had to try anything and everything to get him out of this situation.

"On top of replacing your food, and having your back, I also have another offer for you.." Damon paused. "What if I told you that there was a place, a place in which most people aren't even aware that exists. But, this place assures that you never have to worry about food, water, clothes, or how are you going to make it out the next day alive again."

"What in the hell are you speaking of?" Bonnie questioned.

His planned had worked and she had given him an opening, so he was going to take it. "There's this place, it's suppose to be like a community or settlement or something."

"Settlement?" Bonnie sounded doubtful.

Damon gave her his explanation, based off of what he had heard. "This settlement, it's like a town, a town that had high walls built around it, to keep out uninvited guests or those who would cause harm. So it's secure. And the community inside of it, is like it's own secret society, hidden away from the rest of the world. They have live stock, animals, and grow their own crops. Meaning they are supplied with plenty of food and they also have their own water supply. Plus, they have electricity there and homes with running water, so the people there can actually take a nice, hot shower everyday if they wanted to. They don't have to fight for something to eat, because they produce so much of it through their crops and livestock."

Bonnie eyed this blue-eyed, dark-haired, bearded male stranger that was before her with extreme suspiciousness . "You're delusional. Electricity hasn't existed on this earth for the last thirty years, all the the power plants were ruined or damaged during those storms."

"It's true, electricity is out for most of the world and will remain that way for a very long time. Electricity does not exist in a mass scale, like it did before the apocalypse." Damon commented. ""But, in this one place, in this one town, they have somehow managed to produce electricity on a small enough scale to supply that community with lights."

"Do you think that I'm an idiot, you come up with this lie in order to try and distract me. There's no such a town or place, where you are describing this so called fairy tale community. It can't be real, not in a world that is in the current state that it's in." Bonnie was being pessimistic.

"It's very real and it's out there, I'm not lying to you. I can prove to you that this settlement is real if you would just let me show you." Damon insisted.

Bonnie shook her head. "How would you show it to me"

Damon told her. "You would have to come and travel with me."

She furrowed her brow. "Are you serious, I'm not going anywhere with you."

Even as his arms were getting tired, he still held his hands up in the air as a sign of peace. "You could choose to stay here or you could choose to shot me on this spot. But, then you would be risking never finding out that this settlement is real and end up regretting it. Or wondering for the rest of your life if you missed out on something like this."

She still hesitated.

"Imagine if this community is actually real. Where there is plenty of animals and crops to eat from. Then you would never again have to worry about going hungry one day. And it's secure so no more of worrying if you are going to get attacked by a group of cannibals or being afraid of someone trying to kill you. You would be able to sleep in peace at night. And electricity that allows you to have running water and to take warm baths or showers."

"Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to live day after day struggling to survive or wondering where our next meal is going to come from? And actually be able to live out lives in comfort for once? This place here you got is okay, you've set of a decent spot to live in. But, it's not the safe haven that the settlement would be. You and I have may have different methods, but still with the common goal of wanting to live. So, why not team up and work together to reach that ultimate goal. This is a golden opportunity for the both of us and this community that I speak of, it's about as close to an oasis as you're going to get in this shattered world." Damon negotiated.

Bonnie hated to admit, but this idea of the community intrigued her. "I'm not saying that I believe you, but if this fairy tale place that you speak of is real then where is it."

Damon responded. "Virginia."

Bonnie repeated. "Virginia?"

"Southeastern Virginia." Damon specified.

"Is that your wild guess?" She questioned.

"I have a map which was gifted to me, where it shows where this place is located." Damon explained.

Bonnie challenged him. "Prove it."

Damon let out a breath. "Fine, I'm going to have to reach into my front pocket to show you."

Bonnie gestured to him with her handgun. "Do so very slowly, and don't make a one wrong move,"

Damon proceeded with caution. "Alright, I'm going to slowly reach in with my left hand and show you the map."

She kept her focus firmly on him.

Slowly, he reached into his front pocket with his left hand and pulled out a piece of paper. Then held the paper out to him.

Carefully, Bonnie stepped closer to him and grabbed the piece of paper from him with her free hand.

He held his breath, hoping that what she saw would get her to back down.

She opened up the map, then studied it. The map was worn out and crumbled at the edges. But, still showed what was clearly a map of the state of Virginia and just like the blue eyed stranger had said, there was a circle around an area in Southeastern Virginia, with the small hand writing of , written besides it.

"See" Damon spoke. "I told you that I have proof. The community is really there. And just in case you still have doubts, no I didn't make the map on my own, it was given to be by a person."

Despite having no idea as to who this man was, Bonnie actually believed him concerning the map. "Maybe this settlement is there and maybe it isn't. Either way it's all the way out on the east coast and we're in Arizona now. We would have to travel there by foot and that would take us months."

She was correct, he knew. About 90% of the America's vehicles were no longer in working shape. Most of them laid abandoned, with their engines and batteries rusted and rotted out and their tires flat. Meaning that they were useless and couldn't be driven. It was a source of luck to be able to find a car or truck that was actually in working function. Which meant that the majority of people had to travel by foot or perhaps by horse by, if they had the animal. This meant that it took a lot longer to get to point A to point B, more than it did before the apocalypse happened.

"Yeah, you're correct. It would take a while to get there and would be one hell of a long journey." Damon agreed. "But, wouldn't it be worth it, for this place to be the safe haven that everyone would dream of."

Bonnie thought about it long and hard, for a few minutes. Weighed her options and the pro and cons. Then came up with her decision. "Okay, I'M a business woman. For the sake of myself, I can do business and compromise, if I believe that I'm going to benefit from it."

Damon returned. "Smart choice."

She sharply added. "However, only if I get something out of it, I'm willing to work with people when it comes to be surviving on strictly a business level. You replace my food, _plus_ you have me get to this settlement."

"I'll agree to your terms, as long as you agree to mine. That we travel together and have each others backs on the way to Virginia. And I'll replace any food of yours that I eat." Damon commented. "So, will you take me up on my offer or not. Will take the risk and go with me?"

"You've got yourself a deal, I'll go with you across country to Virginia, under certain conditions, but yes you if you agree to my terms, I'll guess I will have to go with yours." Bonnie muttered. "I accept your offer."

Damon lifted his eyes to the heavens. "Smart choice."

Bonnie firmly told him. "If you try to take something from me without my permission again or if you try to cross me in anyway then I won't spare your life the next time. Understand that just because I'm going with you, doesn't mean that I won't have my guard up around you."

Damon said. "I can understand that, and I'll earn your trust and prove that you will have no need to have your guard up around me.."

"Guess we'll see about that." Bonnie deadpanned.

"You won't regret keeping me alive, I can guarantee you." He stated.

Finally lowering her gun away from him, she holstered it.

Damon breathed a big sigh of relief at not having her handgun aimed at him anymore. "So, when do we start on our journey to this community?"

She eyed him. "We'll rest up tonight and then discuss strategy at first daybreak tomorrow and go from there."

"Sounds good to me, whatever works best for you." Damon gave her a thumbs up.

Bonnie just folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh and Damon by the way." Damon rattled out.

"Huh?" Bonnie narrowed her eyes.

"If we are going to be teaming up together, then we should know each other's names, right." Damon detailed. "I'm, Damon."

"Oh." Bonnie mumbled.

He cocked his head to the side. "Well, aren't you going to tell me your name?"

Pausing she shook her head and then answered. "Bonnie."

"Well, Bonnie it's nice to meet you." Damon greeted.

Bonnie couldn't say the same to him just yet, she would preserve her judgement and keep her guards up around him in the meantime.

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 **Thanks for those of you who reviewed/faved/followed this story so far! I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I missed.**


	3. Chapter 3

For the remainder of that evening and night the two strangers didn't say another word to each other. That was mostly on Bonnie's part as she had been aloof towards him and had given him the cold shoulder for the rest of that night. She had eaten what she collected for her dinner in mostly silence, while at the same time still making sure she kept up her guard around him.

Damon was aware of the fact in which one had to be careful around other people, especially people that a person just met or didn't know. And that one had to proceed with caution in who to trust in this world. Still he was a little more open to talking to new people, where as Bonnie didn't seem open to the idea at all. As he studied her throughout that night, he found himself taken aback by how hardened and ruthless her demeanor appeared to be. At least on the outside, but he had just met her and he guessed with the way that she had found him rampaging through her food, that he couldn't blame her if she was off with him. And was well aware of how this world shaped her into the cold person she seemed to be. But, he hoped he would make some leeway with her and knew that he had to if the two of them were really going to work as a team.

When bedtime came, she slept on the only piece of furniture left in, large enough for a person to sleep on and it was a couch. She ordered him to sleep on the floor in another room, as she still didn't one hundred percent trust him, and wouldn't have someone that she didn't completely trust sleep in the same room that she did. So, he did as she ordered him to do and took the floor to sleep. Since he knew he was on a thin line with her.

The floor wasn't the most comfortable place to catch sleep, however for Damon it was a better option than sleeping outside which he had to do over the last handful of days. Despite the floor not being the most comfortable, he did manage to get a decent amount of sleep. And woke up at first daylight to hear someone moving around in the next room.

He stretched out a bite before getting up and following the sound into the next room, where he discovered that Bonnie was already up, it seemed she had been up before he had, at the very first sign of the early morning daylight, like she hinted that she would be.

"Morning." Damon greeted.

She ignored his greeting with a roll of her eyes and kept her attention on what she was doing.

"What are you up to?" Damon asked.

"What does it look like." Bonnie replied.

"Not sure, that's why I asked." Damon arched a brow.

Bonnie spared him a sideways glance. "You want me to go on this cross country trip with you, correct."

Damon rubbed at his slightly sniff neck. "Correct, the offer still stands unless you changed your mind and want me to go without you."

Bonnie added. "I haven't changed my mind. Don't you think that a big, long trip as this requires discussion of strategy, Damien."

"It's Damon." He corrected her.

"Damon." Bonnie paused "...I'm trying to think up of a plan, we can't just leave here without one you know, we need to discuss and then make our preparations to leave."

"Bonnie, isn't it." Damon inquired of her name.

She nodded her head to confirm her name.

"I agree with you that we should go over a plan and strategy with each other before we leave." Damon said.

"Alright then." Bonnie was about to turn back to what she was doing.

"Umm, wait a second." Damon pointed his index finger in the air.

"Wait for what?" She arched her brow.

He licked his lips. "Mind if we have a little breakfast while we discuss matters."

She let out a humorless laugh. "Are you serious."

Damon was perplexed. "Why would I be?"

"You're asking me for my food, after what you pulled yesterday." Bonnie shook her head.

"At least I asked for it this time and didn't try to steal it, that's already making progress, right." Damon tried with a chuckle.

She only responded by scowling at him.

"Too soon." Damon deadpanned. "Okay, how about I'm requesting breakfast from you, because the both of us are going to need the energy for when we leave for our long trip and the food will give the energy to us. Besides if you haven't notice, I actually didn't eat anymore of your food since you got here."

Bonnie thought back to the day before and he did have a point. Once she had arrived, Damon hadn't had any food after she had confronted him with her gun. Maybe because he didn't think that it was smart to test her considering how pissed she was. But, she knew that he very likely was still hungry since he hadn't eaten in days and because of her interrupting him feeding himself.

And over eight hours had passed by since she had first confronted him in her house, so she stated. "Fine, we can discuss the matter over breakfast."

Damon pumped his fists. "Yes, Thank you."

Bonnie didn't bother welcome him, instead she just went and grabbed a few items of the food she had stored and a couple of water bottles. She handed Damon a couple of granola bars and a water bottle, keeping a water bottle for herself, along with the rest of the food that she had grabbed

"All I get is two granola bars?" Damon feigned disappointed.

"My food, my rules. Until you can replace all that you stole and I give to you. You won't get to take any of my food without my permission." Bonnie countered.

"Hey, relax. I promise you I'll replace your food and then some. WIth my experienced background, I will know the exact places where we can go for food and other sources as we make our way to Virginia." Damon said.

Bonnie gestured. "We will see about that, so let's get on with this discussion, shall we."

Damon returned with a bit of snark. "We shall."

The two of the had their discussion over breakfast. With Damon eating the two granola bars, while ate some dried cranberries and raisins, a couple of slices of stale bread, and a granola bar of her own to go along with the water that she had.

The two of the exchanged some of the knowledge of what they learned from their survival skills and used that to plan out what they should do and were going to do. At least how they should start out and they exchanged ideas back and forth and by the hour had come up with somewhat of an agreement.

"Now that we have discussed the matter, where do we go next?" Bonnie wondered.

"Well, we should leave soon don't you think." Damon mentioned.

"How soon?" Bonnie needed to know.

Damon shrugged. "Why not today."

Bonnie caught on. "You think that we should leave today."

Damon hinted. "I mean it's going to be a very long trip, and the sooner we get there the better, The weather is still nice and warm across most of the country, so it's better if we leave now, over waiting. Since it will take us months to get there in the least."

She knew what he meant. It was about late spring in America, which indeed mean that the weather was nice and warm across most parts of the country, And since it was going to take months for them to travel to where they needed to go, those months would go into summer and so on. It would be best for them if they could make it to their destination before the brunt of winter hit.

"I guess if we are going to leave today, then we better make preparations by packing then." Bonnie muttered.

"Cool, then what do we start with first." Damon murmured.

"Weapons, we're going to need those for a variety of reasons, especially if we come across the wrong people." Bonnie pointed out.

"Weapons, I strongly agree on that one, especially to defend ourselves with, I have mine what about you are you good on guns?" Damon questioned.

She moved around and grabbed an large empty backpack to put things in. "I have more than enough of guns and weapons."

He returned. "I have enough to hold me down, my knife, a fully loaded rifle, with some extra bullets and a revolver."

"A revolver." She narrowed her eyes. "You had another gun on you this whole time, besides the rifle?"

"Yes, my revolver has been in my back pocket this whole time." Damon confirmed.

"It was in reach and you could have pulled it out yesterday when I had my pistol on you." Bonnie realized.

Damon winked. "As I said I have no desire to hurt you, so I didn't feel the need to pull out my revolver against you."

Bonnie pursed her lips. "Is that all."

He admitted. "Perhaps not the only reason, I didn't wish to test your trigger finger by making a sudden moment, risking you putting a bullet my head."

She smirked slightly. "Then you are smarter than you look."

He lifted a hand. "I choose to take that as a compliment."

"Sure." Bonnie turned back to the task of collecting her weapons. She put her holster's on, then strapped her knife back to the thigh, and put the ammo she had for her pistols, into her backpack. She then put her two pistols into each holster, like she has wore them the day before.

As she did this, Damon checked on his own guns of the rifle and that revolver he had spoke of.

Bonnie then moved around the room and opened up a tiny closet, where she had a bow and arrow stored. She got out the bow and arrow, and then the sack which held the arrows and that sack contained about forty arrows inside of it.

Putting his revolver back where it was, he approached closer to get a better look at the bow, impressed by it's size and how good of a shape that it was in. Most of the weapons that he had seen were guns and knives, he didn't see a lot of bow and arrows around before.

"Why do you have a bow and arrow?" Damon wondered.

"Because, I need it." Bonnie leaned the bow against the wall.

"What do you need it for?" Damon was honestly curious.

"I use it to hunt." Bonnie responded.

Damon cocked his head to the side. "Hunt?"

Bonnie massaged her forehead. "You know animals, wildlife for the sake of meat or whatever else the animal can survive."

Damon stated. "Very interesting."

She eyed him. "What's so interesting about hunting?"

"You're a woman." Damon mentioned.

"And?" Bonnie huffed.

"And, I've never seen a woman who hunts before." Damon commented.

"Just what is that suppose to mean?" Bonnie gestured.

"Nothing, really." Damon went on. "It's just from where I came from, if we wanted meat, then the men went out and did all of the hunting for animals."

Bonnie shook her head. "Well, where I come from, I fend for myself, which includes hunting for food. I don't need a man to do that for me."

Damon mumbled. "Which I can see for myself."

"I need to finish packing." Bonnie said more to herself than to him.

She went around and began placing valuable items in her bag, such as soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, and any other important item that she could think of.

Damon watched her and a question came to his mind. "You said you were a businesswoman, what is the business that you run."

She placed a first aid kit into her bag. "I'm a smuggler."

"Really now." This perked Damon's interest in her. "Smuggling what exactly?"

"You really have a lot of questions, don't you." Bonnie returned.

"I'm a very curious man." Damon curved his lips.

"Okay, curious man, I smuggle weapons and similar goods to trade them in for food and other items which I need." Bonnie simply answered.

Damon scratched his beard. "Have you killed in relation to this smuggling job?"

Bonnie said in a it is what it is way. "I do what I need to do."

Damon witted. "I take that as a yes. So, how many people have you killed then."

"Take it as you wish to take it." Bonnie coolly "And I tend not to keep count on who I kill, unless you do on yours as if you're collecting some kind of kill notch on your belt."

"How do you assume that I have killed people." Damon defended.

"A person can't live in this brutal world, and not have killed at least once, it's a killed or be killed world. So, I assume that you have killed in self defense, just like the many times I have had to." Bonnie retorted.

"I prefer not to address that." Damon snarked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I figured."

They were silent for a moment as Bonnie packed more items in her backpack, then she proceeded to put some food items into the backpack, she put as much into it as she good, but soon found her backpack full.

He noticed this and offered. "You know, I have my duffle bag, which is mostly empty with the exception of a canteen and some extra bullets for my gun. I have extra space to put some more food and whatever else we need to travel in it.

This was one of the one things that she wouldn't hesitate about when it came to this blue eyed stranger, them having to go on foot would mean the number of things that they were able to travel with would be limited to her backpack and whatever else she could carry on her person. So, any extra space she could have to carry the needed items would be good.

"Fine, get whatever you can carry." Bonnie permitted.

"Yes, ma'am." Damon soluted.

This earned a side eye from Bonnie.

Damon got everything into his duffle bag that he could manage, anything that he could gather from around the house in which he think would help them on their travels.

A little less than an hour later, they had both of their bags packed.

"I'm ready to go when you are." Damon started.

She put the backpack on her back, then used a strap to connected her bow and arrow, along with the sack of arrows to her backpack, so that her hands would be free.

"Let's leave." Bonnie spoke.

Damon slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and harassed his rifle to himself. "Awesome, can't wait to start our adventure."

Bonnie just opened the door and stepped outside.

Damon stepped out behind her and moved to her side. "Today is the start of teamwork!" He offered his hand for a high five.

"Whatever." Bonnie brushed him off.

"Hey, you're going to leave me hanging like that." Damon joked.

"We should get going." Bonnie simply said back.

Damon pointed. "If we head North this way, then it will lead to a secondary road which will began to lead us east."

Bonnie furrowed her brows. "How do you know that."

A smug expression came upon his face. "Because a man has a strong sense of directions, at least one like me."

Her expression turned blank. "Just lead the damn way."

"Alrighty then, follow me." He began walking.

She paused and took one last look back at the house, which had been her quiet security and her place that she stayed in for the last few months. But, today would be the last day she would ever lay her eyes on it. She just hoped that the destination was worth the risk. She shook her head and began following the blue-eyed stranger.

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The two of them walked for hours and a trip which would get them to that secondary road within four hours in a car, of course took them much longer on foot. They had started to walk in the morning and it was now after one o'clock in the afternoon. Damon was leading them along a small rural road, which Damon convinced her would lead them to that road, which lead east.

They came up upon a speed sign, that had a spray painted symbol on it. Which meant that a particular person or group of people had been in this area sometime in the past. Although whoever did it appeared to be long gone. And the two of them hadn't seen another person in sight, as they appeared to be the only people around for miles.

However long it had been since the people or person who passed by had sprayed the sign, Bonnie could tell who the symbol had longed to and it was a will known and feared symbol to many.

"Fucking Militia." Bonnie sneered.

Damon saw her negative reaction to the symbol which he had recognized as well. "You're aware of the Militia?"

"Who isn't aware of them?" Bonnie glared at the sign. "With how they are cruel and heartless pieces of shit who go around and kill just for the sake of terrorizing people. They commit heinous acts and are the lowest form on the human scale. So, yeah I'm well aware of the Militia."

"Seems like they have built up the terrible reputation for themselves." Damon's mood turned somber for a brief moment.

"And with good reason. I suppose you were right when you said that there are worse things than stealing or being a bandit. There are those who are disgusting and low enough to belong to a group like the Militia." Bonnie said lowly.

Damon swallowed. "The best bet is to avoid those snakes by whatever means."

Bonnie commented. "True, however some people aren't fortunate enough to be able to avoid them."

He added. "If we keep going this way at this pace, then we should reach the road that leads East by tomorrow morning."

They walked for about twenty minutes longer.

Then Bonnie brought up. "We should take a break, we've been walking for hours and I'm a little tired and hungry."

"Yeah, let's rest for a little while." Damon agreed.

Bonnie maneuvered herself to the side of the road, into a grassy area that was shaded by the trees. She removed the backpack from her back and sat down.

Damon took a seat next to hour, glad that they would be resting for a while before continuing on.

She began sorting through her bag and pulled out some water, beef jerky, some crackers, and a zip lock bag of mixed nuts. She then spilt all of the them equally and gave half of them over to Damon, while she kept the other half for herself.

"Here." She held the food and water out to him.

"Wow, Bonnie you're offering me food without me having to ask for it or steal it." Damon teased.

"Please, don't flatter yourself. I'm giving this to you for myself more than anything. Can't have you watching by back properly from the dangers we may face if you are weak from hunger." Bonnie scoffed.

Reaching out he took the food and water. "Nonetheless, I am grateful for whatever you give me. Knowing how special it is to conserve food in these times."

She just started to eat the food that she had saved for herself.

He drank his water. "Sounds like you had some dislike there for the Militia back there, a dislike which surpasses them just having a terrible reputation."

"All I'm going to say is that they did something very personal against me." She spat with venom.

This peaked his interest in the matter. "Personal as in what?"

"I prefer not to go into detail about it." Bonnie replied.

"You could, The militia seems like a mighty sore spot for you." Damon pointed out.

"Why do you need to know." Bonnie went on in confusion.

He shifted. "I'm just interested in why you seem to hate them so much and talking about it may get those feelings off of your chest."

"Listen, this is how we are going to handle this situation. You and I are taking this trip on a _strictly_ business deal, because we both want to reach this settlement. Other than that I have interest in nothing else when it comes to you, which means that you don't dig into my personal life and I won't give a shit about your personal life. I'm not here to cozy up with no one." Bonnie snapped out.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there." Damon widened his eyes. "I just thought that since we are going to be stuck together for a while, that it would be good if we could get comfortable and friendly with each other. No offense meant."

Bonnie was calmer this time, but still held an edge. "I don't do friendly and there's no need for us to become do that in order for us to reach our destination. As I stated, this ordeal between us will remain business. Just respect my space and drop the subject got it, Damon."

Damon let out a dramatic sigh. "Yeah, Yeah I got it, I'll respect your space."

And with that there was silence between them. They just sat there on the ground with her eating her food and him eating the food which she had given to him. Along with the water that they were drinking.

Through the moment he kept stealing glimpses towards her, however she avoided eye contact with him. Damon didn't know her very well, since of course he had met her just yesterday. But, from the conversation she had and the way that she shut him down made him realize something about who she was as a person.

At least he viewed part of her personality as to be a woman who was closed off and didn't take a liking to opening up or welcoming people emotionally. Certainly not when it came to people that she had just met. Bonnie appeared to be a person who had this harsh wall built up around her and didn't warm up to many people because of it. Because of this, he learned that she wasn't going to easily warm up to him or that it would take a while if she ever did.

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 **Thank you for the reviews and the support! I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I missed.**


	4. Chapter 4

By the morning the two of them had reached the road that they needed to get to, the road in which would start to take them East to their long away destination. This stretch of highway was a mixture of trees and the Arizona desert. Of course this road was mostly empty of any human activity or traffic. The only signs of cars or trucks, were the occasional rusted out, broken down, and wrecked ones on the side of the road that they came across.

For the next few days they kept walking on foot along this road. Walking at a slow but steady pace. They had gotten a routine down, which was silently agreed upon. Each day they would eat some breakfast and have some water, then would get started on walking. After a few hours of walking, they would take a break for about an hour or so on the side of the road, while having a small snack and more water, before walking again. Then when it got dark or close to dark, they would settle down for the night, eat some dinner and get some sleep, outside before having to start back up again in the morning.

Bonnie didn't say much to Damon and remained silent with him the majority of the time and kept herself guarded as the days passed by. She only spoke to him a handful of times and when she did, it was strictly on a business deal type of situation, such as them discussing what they needed to do next or go to next. Or how they needed to carefully conserve the food and water that they had and not eat too much of it until they could find more.

And as a result of this, Damon only asked questions on the 'business' level that she insisted that he did and kept his comments the same or just giving his best advice on the plans that they should go on about surviving for the day. After her response to him questioning her about the Militia, he figured that it was smart not to push her at this point.

On the fourth day of them walking on this road that lead East, he heard something that made his ears perk up.

"Wait, what is that.?" Damon asked out loud.

"What is what?" Bonnie was walking slightly ahead of him.

"I hear something." Damon replied.

She looked back over her shoulder at him. "Really, what are you hearing, because I don't hear anything."

He stopped in his tracks to get a better sense of hearing. "Someone's coming."

Bonnie stopped walking as well, to ask him what did he mean. Then she heard it the slightest sound of what sounded like a car or vehicle on the road. Even if they were rare in this type of world, she was familiar with the sound when she heard it.

Then Damon turned in the direction of where the sound was coming from and saw in the distance, from behind them that there was a glint of a shine that bounced off of a vehicle, this glint caused by the sun bouncing off of it.

She turned her head in the direction in which he was looking. A vehicle of some kind, that was too far in the distance for the moment to tell exactly what kind it was, was heading towards them at a decent rate of speed. "Someone's driving." Bonnie said in a certain tone, because it was so rare to see working vehicles.

Damon's lips formed a half smirk. "I told you so. Aren't we the lucky ones!"

"How are we lucky?" Bonnie turned her attention from the vehicle to him.

"We've been walking on this road for days and we might catch a break from that." Damon reached his arm out and held up his thumb.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie furrowed her brow.

"Hitch hiking." Damon hinted.

Bonnie just stared at him like she didn't have a clue.

Seeing her expression, Damon explained. "You know if you're walking along and are tired of doing so. Then a car comes along and you signal for them to pull over telling them that you would like a ride."

She muttered. "Oh, that's what it is then."

He was nearly amused. "You've never hitchhiked before?"

"Nope, it's rare that you see people coming along driving and when I do see them, I don't signal for a ride. I tend not to trust strangers."

"Well, I'm a stranger to you and I prove that you can trust me." He pointed out.

Bonnie just snorted.

"Well, I will prove how much that you can trust me." Damon returned. "Come on, relax Bonnie this will be good for us."

"I don't know." Bonnie was doubtful. "Getting into some person's vehicle in these times, doesn't seem like a smart idea."

Damon waved his free hand. "What can it hurt to try."

Bonnie was about to say something to counter, however when she returned her attention to the road, she saw that the vehicle had gotten closer to them than she realized to the point that it was almost reaching them.

"Perfect! It's a camper." Damon grew hopeful. "There ought to be plenty of room for us."

She still remained weary as she eyed the camper getting closer still.

He on the other hand, tried for a friendly smile on his face and raised his thumb higher in the attempt to get the driver's attention.

Though, it was clear from Bonnie's point of view that this camper wasn't interested in slowing down or stopping for them. In fact from her judgment the driver appeared to be speeding up as if he or she driving had spotted them and wanted to avoid the idea of picking them up.

"Hey, could you give us a lift?" Damon yelled out towards the camper.

"It appears whoever is driving doesn't want to give us a lift." Bonnie observed. "We shou…." She paused mid sentence when the large vehicle picked up even more speed now. Not only it was picking up speed, but it was swerving towards the shoulder of the road heading towards him.

"What in the hell…" His attempt at a friendly smile faded when he saw the driver headed towards them, like whoever it was, was drunk of something.

Her green eyes widened as the camper barrelled quickly towards them. "I think we better get the heck out of the way."

Alarmed raised in him, as he knew that she was right. "Shit, watch out."

The two of them jumped to the sandy grass off of the shoulder of the road, just as the camper sped by them and missed plowing into them by mere inches. Recklessly almost running them over. The camper then pulled back onto the road and kept going into the direction that it was.

"Damn, if I didn't know any better I would say that the driver tried to run us over on purpose." Damon spat sand out of his mouth.

"As I said you can't trust any fucking stranger." Bonnie snipped out.

"I didn't think that it would hurt to try," Damon pleaded.

Bonnie deadpanned. "And your trying almost got us ran over."

Damon grumbled. "By bad, I just was hoping that someone would lend us a helping hand."

"Yeah, how many people are willing to lend a helping hand in this world." She grumbled.

"You have a point there." He saw got to his feet and saw that she was still on the ground. "Here, let me get you up."

"I can get my own self up." She snatched her arm away from his outreaching hand.

Damon just sighed.

Bonnie got to her feet and glared in the direction of the fleeing camper. "That fucking bastard definitely tried to run us over with intent."

Damon watched the camper get further and further away, until it disappeared from sight. "Right, we did nothing to that driver, I certainly don't appreciate an attempt on my life, especially for no reason."

The brown-skinned beauty brushed the sand off of her pants. "Whoever it is, they better just be lucky that they can drive fast enough to get away from me because otherwise….."

Even though she didn't finish what she had to say, Damon knew what she meant and he completely agreed with her.

"Let's just keep going." Bonnie scowled.

"Okay." Damon said with a long breath.

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They walked along that road for another couple of days, and besides the reckless driver that had almost ran them over, they hadn't seen another human being around besides the two of them still.

After days of walking the long stretch of road, that had nothing but trees and desert surrounding it, they had finally came up on some buildings. These buildings surrounded both sides of the road and do so for several miles. And these buildings were what used to be a shopping district of a close by town. Stores, shops, businesses, restaurants, and a supermarket was what these buildings consisted of.

But, of course due to the state of the world and it being the post apocalypse, no one had shopped or been to these stores in decades. And like many areas in America, the place had been completely abandoned by humans. None of the places currently around them had been used or attended to in years.

And like many cities, towns, suburbs, districts, or any area that contained buildings and/or homes. This shopping district showed the effects of man not being around it in many years and showed heavy sighs that many areas did of the post apocalyptic world. Any areas or buildings that were fortunate enough not to be destroyed, in the destructive storms, blizzards, and floods. Had showed signs of nature reclaiming places where the human race once dominated. With humans no longer around to help keep areas clean, secure and maintained. Nature had taken over.

Which meant that grass, weeds, and bushes had grown between the cracks of concrete. And trees and vines grew on the outside walls of some of these buildings and houses. Sometimes wildlife had taken over in the cities or towns, where humans once thrived over thirty years ago. But, those humans thrived no longer and it was almost like the earth was getting back to a time where it was, before man came along.

Another effect of the lack of human presence and the time that went by, was that many buildings were old and wore down, fading away or on the verge of crumbling.

The two of them stood side by side, as they observed the area around them.

"Look at everything around here, there might actually be something useful for us somewhere." Bonnie started.

"Agreed. We should have a look in some of these buildings and see what we can find." Damon returned.

"A smart idea." Bonnie said.

His eyes scanned all around them. "It's quite a few buildings to search through however, we should put aside this day to look for anything that we can find and then move out tomorrow perhaps."

She looked down at her watch. It was slightly before noon. "Yes, we'll dedicate this day to searching for supplies and food and then we can move on tomorrow."

Damon was just glad that she agreed with him on something. "Alright then, let's begin our search."

So they walked a little down the road, to see what buildings that would be best for them to search. That was when Damon spotted something that caught his eye.

"McDonald's?" Damon questioned eying the medium sized building.

She saw what he was looking at and saw the place, that was surrounded by tall grass in what used to be it's parking lot. But, now resembled more of a lawn that was uncut for a long time. This McDonald's had cracked windows and faded out paint the outside. Near the back of the buildings, there was a drive thru menu, which wasn't readable from where they stood and half of the drive thru menu was overtaken by vines.

The place had obviously seen better days back then. "Yep, that's a McDonald's." She confirmed.

His eyes shifted up to the old McDonald's sign, that had a yellow line shaped into an him and at the bottom it said "millions served." And he thought that it meant millions of people served and was quite amazed by that.

"What exactly is a McDonald's.?" Damon wondered.

"It was a place that served food to people…..you know before the world went to shit." Bonnie explained.

"Really, what kind of food?" Damon questioned.

"They called it quick, no fast food and people could order and get hot food served to them within minutes." Bonnie stated.

Damon licked his lips as he looked at the sign. "Sounds both convenient and delicious."

Bonnie mumbled. "Maybe, but spots like this McDonald's are long gone obviously."

"People who lived before the apocalypse were lucky and had no idea how good they had it." Damon commented.

"I say that I make my own luck." Bonnie gestured.

"How did you know what McDonald's was, if it was around before the world went to shit." Damon moved his eyes from the sign towards her.

She shrugged. "My dad told me, he was around before all of the shit happened."

His interest was peaked. "And where is your dad now?"

This question had Bonnie stiffen for a moment, before her expression quickly went to blank and aloof. "I doubt that there will be anything useful in there, so we should try somewhere else."

He took notice of how she completely avoided the question of her dad. Her remaining still guarded and keeping him at a certain distance emotionally.

Bonnie went on. "We should try over there, that looks like it could offer something perhaps."

Damon pointed to the large store, which was a little ways away from where McDonald's was. "You mean the one that says Wal-Mart?"

"Exactly the one." Bonnie confirmed.

"Cool, let's check it out." Damon mumbled.

They headed towards the big store, walking across the large parking lot that was empty, with the exception of about ten cars parked in the spaces, scattered across the lot. When they reached the front, they saw that the glass doors were sealed shut, So, it took Damon several minutes and his man strength to pri them open.

"Whew." Damon blow out once they were open. "Ladies first."

She moved ahead of him and into the store. The light from the day and the sun, lit the first half yards of the store. But, beyond that the store was pitch black. Despite it being daylight outside, the rest of the store was dark because of there being no electricity and no windows beyond the front of the store.

To counter this the pair got out their flashlights and turned them on. Then they proceeded further into the store. Moving past the cash registers and conveyor belts that were covered in a heavy coat of dust. Lined up in a one from one to twenty.

Damon paused as his flashlight shined over something that read. 'Tweet this code to your mobile device for savings.'

"What does 'tweet' mean?" Damon was perplexed.

"How should I know." Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a strange thing to tell someone to do."

Damon snorted. "Yeah, like they're trying to tell you to make the sound of a dumb bird."

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't even know what a mobile device is. Must of been an item that they had back then."

"Must of been." He agreed.

The two of them had moved deeper inside of the store, their flashlights casting narrow beams of light through the dust that hung in the air. Since the store was so big they separated to look in different areas of the store and agreed to met back up in a spot in thirty minutes.

Bonnie looked around for what could be useful for them. She didn't find much in the way of food. She figured that the Wal-mart's shelves had most likely been snatched clean of any food, a long time ago. More than likely during the weeks after the storms started when food was running out and people realizing that stores weren't going to be restocked, went and bought every food and water source that they could.

But, of course it being hard to find food was expected in this world. Still she found somethings that she thought may help them out. Such as some batteries and a bottle of chewable multi vitamins. Which would assist the body, in a world where a person could go sometimes days without eating. They currently had food, but that was running down with each day that the two of them ate more of it. And one never could be sure when they would be lucky enough to find food next.

She looked a little more, but didn't find much else that would help them in surviving. So she went back to the meeting spot and waited for Damon. Soon, she heard footsteps and saw a beam of light headed towards her. A minute later, Damon had approached her.

"Find anything?" Damon wanted to know.

"Some batteries for our flashlights." Bonnie replied. "And some vitamins. I put them in my backpack."

"Those will be helpful." Damon commented.

Bonnie eyed him, his face lit somewhat by the flashlight that he held. "And you, did your search come up with something?"

Damon held out his other hand to show what items that he had collected. "I found a few matchbooks, put with matches."

She nodded. "Oh, then that will help if we need to start a fire somewhere."

"Exactly. And I didn't find food, which is not surprising, however I did find about four bottles of Powerade." Damon directed.

"Powerade." Bonnie looked at the bottles in his hand.

"Yeah, it says that it's a sports drink, with electrolytes and it's suppose to help hydrate you better than water can." Damon explained.

"In that case, Damon you seem to becoming more useful to me each and every passing day, then I originally thought that you were going to be." Bonnie commented.

He placed the matches and the powerade into his duffle bag. "I choose to take that as a compliment."

She simply pursed her lips. "Um hmmmm."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They spent the remainder of the rest of that day searching through the stores and buildings around the shopping districts. Once again they didn't find anything in the shape of food or anything to eat. And some buildings were completely empty of other items that they needed. But, scattered around the area, they did happen to find a handful more of supplies.

They kept looking until night time fell and then decided to find somewhere that they could sleep in. That was when they found a storage place which looked favorable to sleep in.

Damon tested the front door of the storage building. "Locked."

"I can easily fix that." Bonnie tone wasn't bothered.

"How, there's no way that you have the key." Damon returned.

"I don't." Bonnie pointed out. "But, I don't need a key to get in."

He glanced at her sideways. "How do you figure that."

She sighed. "Just watch and learn."

Damon took a step back, curious as to what she was about to do.

Bonnie dugged through the pockets of her hoodies and got out a hairpin, a short metal nail, and an old credit card. She got down to her knees and worked the hairpin and the nail into the keyhole.

Damon stood there and watched as she maneuvered the utensils through the small keyhole.

She pressed her tongue to the corner of her mouth, as she concentrated at the task at hand. She kept working it until she hard a click and then used the credit card and slide it between the space of the door and the doorjamb. Bonnie got back to her feet and pressed on the door.

Much to Damon's surprise, the door opened.

"Ah, success!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Whoa, that actually worked." Damon whistled.

She put the stuff back into her pockets. "I know what I am doing."

He directed. "Obviously, where did you learn to do that?"

Bonnie patted her pocket. "I taught myself how to do it."

Damon grinned. "Impressive, If I do say so."

She just smirked in response.

He walked inside, with his flashlight shining over what was the office area of the storage building. "Sleeping, in here is good for tonight or do you want us to check further inside."

Bonnie yawned and stepped inside. She looked around. The space was big enough for two people to sleep completely in. "Sleeping in here is fine. We move out at the break of dawn tomorrow."

"Agreed." Damon gave her a single nod.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

At the break of dawn the two of them gathered of their things and left the storage place. They returned to the road that was leading East, as the shopping district was still around them. About an hour later the sun was halfway rising in the sky and they were near the edge of the shopping district.

Suddenly, Bonnie's mood turned from blank contentment, to fury. "Son of a bitch."

Damon was taken aback by her quick change of mood from calm to upset. "I didn't do anything."

"Not you." Bonnie waved with her hand. "Over there."

He followed her hand wave with his eyes, and saw the camper that had tried to run them over a few days ago. "Oh, I see now."

Her eyes narrowed in the direction on that camper. "I didn't think that we would even see this rat again, but it seems like the whoever it is decided to make a stop here."

Damon wondered why as he eyed the camper, as the sun continued to rise.

With a curse under her breath, Bonnie took off in the direction of the camper in a run.

"Hey, Bonnie. What are you doing?" Damon's eyes bugged out.

Ignoring him, she kept running in the direction of the camper, with the intentions of giving the driver a piece of her mind and more.

"Hey, Bonnie." Damon took off in a sprint after her. And was able to catch up to her. He moved in front of her to block her from running.

She gave him an annoyed look. "Out of my way, Damon."

He held up his hands, as a sign for her to calm down. "Hold on, just wait a minute."

"Wait for what? Whoever is in that camper tried to run us over. And you already know how I deal with people who try to kill me." Bonnie snapped out. "You're telling me that we should let this bastard go, after he almost killed us. You're not upset that they tried to kill you?"

Damon lowered his hands. "Hell yeah, I'm upset more than that I was pissed. But, you going in ahead of me without warning, rushing in there to confront the asshole might be dangerous. Considering that the driver had clear intentions on killing the both of us. Who knows what weapons he or she might hit you with it you go busting in. I'm here to watch your back, so at least let me go into the camper with you more carefully."

Because he explained it the way that he did, she softened her tone. "Fine, then we'll confront the rat bastard together."

He gave her the thumbs up.

Slowing her pace, Bonnie headed towards the direction of the camper with him at her side.

Carefully, they approached the camper until the two of them were outside of the door. They stood on either side of the door, each drawing out their weapons. Damon got out his revolver and Bonnie got out her pistol from her her holster.

Then he slowly opened the door and stepped inside with Bonnie following closely behind. The first thing that they were hit with was the stench of overwhelming piss and strong offensive body odor. It may have been tough for some people to be able to bathe in the current conditions of this planet. Yet, this person took the lack of bathing to the next level. To the point that the stink was nearly gagging to the senses.

Damon mouthed silently to her. "This guy reeks."

And it certainly was a guy, that looked as bad as he smelled. He was laying back in the driver's seat, fast asleep his mouth wide open in a snore. He was a rail-thin man, whose clothes were soiled in dirt and he had stringy blonde hair and a poor excuse for facial hair.

Disgusted by his appearance and still, Bonnie mouthed back. "Let's wake his ass up."

Following her lead, the two of them walked up to the driver who had no clue that they had entered into the camper.

Bonnie tapped him on his shoulder with the butt of her pistol. But, the man was still knocked out and snoring.

So Damon gave it a try, leaning down he said loudly into the man's ear. "Wake the fuck up."

Startled out of his sleep. The man woke up with a scream. "Aha."

""Nice work, that did the trick." Bonnie directed at Damon.

The man sat up in his seat and rubbed at his eyes. Blinking several times, like he was trying to clear the sleep from his head. Then he focused on a the man and a woman standing before him. One white, with a black beard, black hair, and icy blue eyes. And the woman caramel skinned with emerald green eyes.

"What in the horse crap is going on here?" The man asked in a sleep heavy voice.

"Sorry, to wake you….." Damon paused. "Well, actually I'm not."

The man's emotional quickly grew to annoyance. "Who are you people and how dare you storm up on my camper."

"We need about talk." Bonnie stated firmly.

The man glowered. "About what? I don't know you people."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "You don't know us? But, you saw us just the other day."

The man squinted. "I don't know you, what in the hell are you talking about."

"You mean that you don't remember seeing us?" Bonnie tapped an impatient finger on her weapon.

"Are you deaf. As I said I didn't see you and I don't know either of you." The man barked.

"Then your short term memory must suck." Damon gruffed. "Because we were the ones who you weren't so nice to on the side of the road."

"I…" The man paused as he thought back.

Bonnie glared at him. "Is it coming back to you now."

He looked back and forth, between the faces of Damon and Bonnie and saw how displeased that they both look.

She saw the realization come to his face. "That's right, we were the ones that you tried to run off of the damn road."

Damon added. "And the ones that you nearly killed."

"So, it really was the two of you." The man returned.

"You're admitting to trying to run us over then." Damon's eyes were angry.

"I admit to it." The man confessed.

This made Bonnie even more furious, even though she already know that he was guilty of it, It was just the nonchalant way that he had confessed to it. "Why did you try to do that to us? We did nothing to you."

The man just looked at her, as if he were annoyed by her presence.

Damon jammed him in the shoulder. "Answer the question."

"I did it because I could." The man spat out.

"Because you could." Bonnie's mood turned darker.

"That's what I said." The man smiled showing his yellow, rotten teeth. "Because I saw you two morons, standing in the road and I felt like doing it."

"We weren't exactly standing in the road." Damon corrected. "We were on the shoulder and you swerved over doing to hit us."

The man sneered, "Who gives a shit."

Damon clenched his jaw. "We do and don't appreciate what you attempted to do."

The man made a jerky movement. "Probably deserved it."

Bonnie spoke. "You know, you're making a bad case for yourself here."

The man just eyed her with contempt.

"I just hate it when someone tries to kill me." Bonnie added. "It really makes me very upset."

"Get out of my camper." The man gestured wildly.

"Not going anywhere until I deal with you for what you tried to do." Bonnie stood her ground.

"Me neither, I'm pissed….maybe not as pissed off as she is. But, still pissed with you." Damon said with a icy glare.

The man shifted. "I don't care."

Bonnie aimed daggers from her eyes. "You will care once I deal with you."

The man snarled. "Say you what?"

"When someone tries to kill me." Bonnie explained. "Nine times out of ten I tend to return the favor by killing them."

"Trust me she's very serious. You don't wish to get on her bad side. I would know." Damon smirked coolly.

The man hocked. "You ain't playin'?"

Her expression was deadly. "Not at all. And now I want payback."

Next to her, Damon put in. "Me as well and we're not leaving until we get it."

Once again, The man looked back and forth between them and noticed the handguns that they had pointed in his general direction. And the expressions on the pair's faces. Then it finally dawned on him what very serious trouble that he was in.

"Heh, Heh. I was just messing with you two." The man had a sudden change of heart.

"Were you now." Bonnie didn't believe a word that he said.

"I was just messing with you." The man repeated. "I didn't actually want to kill you."

Damon zeroed. "Really? Because you aimed this big vehicle at us, missing hitting us by inches. Seems like you wanted to kill us to me."

The man let out a nervous laugh. "I just wanted to scare you and not hurt you."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You really expect us to believe that."

He nodded frantically. "Just a scare no harm intended, I promise. Like a joke."

"Well, I'm for one aren't laughing. What about you, Damon you laughing at this joke." Bonnie folded her arms over her chest.

"Far from it. I don't find it much of a joke at all." Damon glimpsed sideways.

"I didn't do it on purpose." The man babbled.

Damon cocked his head to the side. "Not what you declared earlier."

The man told them. "I didn't mean it…...you are still alive, so why don't we let bygones, be bygones and we can go our separate ways."

"No, not until you pay." Bonnie cut him off.

"Let me go, I won't do it again." The man was really worried about his well being now.

"I might have consider that, if you didn't try to end my life." Bonnie retorted.

Damon commented. "I agree with my partner, it's too late for you to talk yourself out of this. How can we be sure that you won't try to kill us again in this thing."

The man stuttered. "I-l-won't. I can make a d-deal."

Bonnie repeated his words. "Make a deal."

The man licked his dry lips. "A deal with the both of you."

"What kind of deal?" Damon shifted his revolver to the other hand.

"A deal that would in exchange for you keeping me alive." The man said.

"I doubt that you can have a deal good enough, after you tried to murder us." Bonnie returned.

"I'll give you whatever you want." The man insisted.

Damon raised both brows. "What do you have to offer us?"

The man swept out his arms. "Anything in this camper, you can have if you just let me go and let me drive off."

Bonnie observed all of the items packed inside of the camper, which wasn't much. "Nothing here is of interest to me."

"Yep, all of it looks like crap." Damon mumbled.

"Come on, please. Just give me a break." The man grew more concerned.

"I'm still not convinced why I should keep you alive." Bonnie's expression was deadly.

The man cringed back. "We have to come up with some sort of deal here."

That was when a thought came to Damon's mind. "What if there is a deal which could be made here?"

She switched her attention to Damon. "What in the hell do you mean by a deal."

The icy blued-eyed bandit, looked into her green ones. "A deal that we can get in keeping this asshole alive."

A look of relief came into the man's eyes.

"This bastard tried to kill us and now you want to let him get away." Bonnie was taken aback.

"Just hear me out." Damon insisted.

"Right, listen to him." The man pleaded.

Bonnie told the man. "Shut up." Without listening to him, then told Damon. "Tell me about your deal."

Damon's lips curved. "None of this stuff that he has is useful to us, but his camper is."

Bonnie opened her mouth. "I…"

"Huh?" The man bucked his eyes towards Damon.

"I mean we been walking for about a week now, since you know we met." Damon went on. "And wouldn't it be nice if we could catch a break from walking."

"True." Bonnie understood where he was coming from. "You're saying that we should take the camper, to get a break from traveling on foot."

Damon winked. "Exactly. Looks like we might actually be lucky to catch a ride afterall. We can use this camper and get a break, even if it's only for a little while."

As she thought about it, Bonnie was enthralled with the idea. "I actually love your thought process. It's brilliant to use this camper for a ride, even if it's only for a small break from traveling on foot."

Damon pumped his fists. "See, I knew that you would love the idea, once you heard me out."

"Then we are taking this camper." Bonnie nodded in his direction.

"Wait just a darn second. You ain't taking my camper." The man objected.

"Of course we are, the camper belongs to us now." Damon returned.

The man frowned. "You can't have it."

Bonnie shrugged. "Hey, you were the one who said that you would exchange something to keep us from killing you."

The man croaked. "I meant anything in here and not the actual camper."

"We told you that none of this crap interests us." Damon shook his head,

"It's a fair deal considering what you attempted." Bonnie pointed out.

"But, I need this camper, it's mine." The man pouted.

Bonnie tapped her temple. "It's either you give up this ride or you won't be living anymore."

The man asked. "If you take it, are we going to ride together the three of us."

Both Bonnie and Damon shook their heads no.

"Nope." Damon denied. "We can't ride with a person who tried to end our lives."

"Yeah, you would have to get out." Bonnie agreed.

"You're going to leave me stranded here. But, how would I get around." The man whined.

Bonnie cocked her pistol. "That's none of mine concern. Now get out."

The man stomped a foot down. "I'm not going anywheres. You're not stealing my camper."

Bonnie tapped her temple once more. "It's not really stealing, if you were the one who tried to take our lives first."

Damon added. "Now, peacefully give this ride up to us or else."

"No." The Man barked.

"Then, I guess you'll have to leave the hard way." Damon's tone chuckled.

Reaching down Damon jerked the man up by the collar, forcing him to his feet. Then he started to pull the man roughly towards the doors.

The man started to struggle. "Get your hands off of me."

Damon, easily overpowering him kept dragging him towards the door.

The man tried to fight, taking a swing at Damon's face but missing.

Bonnie being impatient, pressed her pistol to the side of the man's head. "I've been showing serious restraint with you, stop resisting before I lose that restraint."

Nearly peeing in his pants at the gun against his hand and how angry and serious that she sounded. The man stopped struggling.

Dragging him the rest of the way, Damon not so gently tossed the man out of the open door.

With the force that Damon tossed him, combined with the angle that the man landed on the ground. There was a loud, vicious snap as the man's leg broke. Instantly, the man yelled out in pain.

"Whoops. I didn't mean to do that." Damon deadpanned.

"Accidents happen." Bonnie stated flatly.

Rolling around on the ground, the man clutched his leg. "You broke my leg, you broke my leg."

Shrugging, Damon murmured. "Guess that what happens with you try to kill a person, karma. Might be tough for you to get around on that leg."

"No. No. You can't leave me here like this." The man was panicked.

"This is a brutal world. Maybe you'll learn your lesson as you lay there while your leg heals." Bonnie said carelessly.

"Enough of this." Damon put in. "Bonnie, go and take a seat in the back will you."

"Gladly." And without giving the man another look, she went to do just that.

Damon gave the man his middle finger. "Bye, now."

The man kept yelling, as he laid on the ground clutching his broken leg. But, the sounds were soon muffled as Damon shut the door. Damon moved into the driver's seat of the camper and started it, as the keys were resting in the ignition. He then pressed his foot on the gas pedal and left the man in a cloud of dust.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Wow, this chapter ended up being much longer than I thought that it was going to be. Thanks for those of you still supporting this story.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I missed.**


	5. Chapter 5

Damon drove the camper down the road for about twenty minutes, to get enough distance between him and the town where the man had been left behind. He wanted to get far enough to assure that the man couldn't catch up to them on foot and retaliate against him and Bonnie. Even though he very much doubted that the man would be able to move much with that broken leg. But, one could never be too careful or cautious. Since he was sure that there was a safe distance between the camper and the man, he pulled the camper to the side of the road and stopped it.

Taking a moment to gather himself, as he was pumped for what they had pulled off in getting the ride that they needed. He called back to Bonnie, who remained sitting in the back.

"Well, that certainly worked out well for us didn't it." Damon stated.

"So, it did." Bonnie agreed.

"We worked perfectly together back there." Damon went on. "Had each other's backs."

All Bonnie said was. "Hmmmm."

He checked her out in the rearview mirror. "Admit it, Bonnie you know that we can make for a kickass team when it comes down to it."

She could admit to herself that her adrenaline was high from how they managed to overtake the man and get away with his camper. "It has it's perks more and more."

Damon smirked. "I'll say we made an impression on the hobo back there, leaving him in our dust. And taught him a valuable lesson."

"His broken leg will leave him unable to move and subdued for a while. I don't think that we need to worry about him." Bonnie commented.

"You're right, he won't be able to get around much on that leg." Damon agreed.

"The way that you handled him, I figure it's great to have you around as my muscle." Bonnie showed some amusement.

Damon looked over his shoulder at her. "I don't mind being the muscle on this team. But, you can still handle yourself though."

Her lips slightly curved. "I certainly can do that."

He just smirked again in response.

Bonnie spoke again. "I'm curious, where did you learn how to drive, I mean you seem to do it quite well considering."

"Because it's so rare that working vehicles are found now and days, which means that it's so rare for a person to know how to drive." Damon understood where her curiosity was coming from.

"Exactly." Bonnie gave him a nod.

"Well, from where I am from there are some working cars and trucks, even though it's not a lot." Damon told her. "And it's why I know how to drive."

She looked over at him from where she sat. "Where is the place that you are from, where you can get so many working vehicles."

He started to answer. "I…." Then he thought about him having access to cars and trucks because of the fact that he was in the milita. And remembered her angered bitter response towards the milta. And knew that it wouldn't bode well for him at the moment if he revealed to her that he had been a part of something that she seemed to hate so much.

Bonnie waited for him to answer.

Damon hesitated to reveal the truth of where he was from to her. He didn't want whatever personal thing that she had against the milta to be taken out on him. So, he paused and thought quick. "I thought that you said no personal questions remember, Keeping it on a strictly business relationship between us."

"How was I making it personal?" Bonnie furrowed her brow.

"Wondering where a person is from is personal, isn't it." Damon diverted smoothy.

"Fine, if that is how you want to play it." Bonnie rolled her eyes.

He corrected her. "It's how you wanted to play it and I'm just going along with you."

She pursed her lips. "Hey, you don't have to tell me where you are from. But, don't flatter yourself if you think that I wanted to know for a special reason. As I said I was just curious for the sake of knowing where to find a working car or truck would be useful. If you know where they were located."

Damon returned. "I see. Well, the place where I am from is far behind us now and we can't turn back. So, let's just move forward with this camper as far as we can go. Perhaps we will luck out again and find another car on our journey ahead."

"Perhaps." Bonnie sighed. "How far can we get travel in this thing anyway?"

Damon eyed the gas gauge. "Uh, we have a little under a half of a tank left."

Bonnie returned. "And?"

Damon mentioned. "And it means that this camper won't take us anywhere close where we want to go. I'm guessing it will last us a handful of hours before we run out."

"A handful of hours. Is it really how far we can travel in this?" Bonnie questioned.

"That's what I'm guessing, something this big eats up a lot of gas. So, we'll have a few hours of travel at the most before we run out." Damon explained. "Maybe it's the reason for why that man drove into the town back there. He was looking for some more gas to put in here knowing that it wouldn't last him for much longer."

"Oh, I guess I can't complain. At least we'll get a break from walking for those handful of hours." Bonnie mumbled.

He rubbed at his thickening beard. "It will cut the time in half in which we need to get to the border with New Mexico in if it won't get us all of the way there."

She thought to herself again that she couldn't complain. Even if she wished that they had lucked out and had a full tank of gas, they still lucked out overall by finding this camper.

Damon tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "So, Bonnie do you know how to drive?"

She shrugged. "No…..Not really."

"Not at all?" Damon added curious.

"I have done the majority of my traveling on foot. And sometimes on horseback. But, have not operated enough vehicles to be an expert at driving. As you know finding working ones are very rare." Bonnie explained.

"In that case maybe I could teach you." Damon suggested.

Bonnie arched a brow. "Teach me."

Damon nodded. "Yep, teach you to drive once we reach our destination in Virginia, if you want to learn how that is."

Bonnie thought about his offer. "Maybe…..we'll see."

And with that he pulled back on the road, driving as far as the gas tank would let them go.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

The under half of a tank of guess allowed the two of them to be on the road for several hours, allowing them to travel much further than they would have gotten on their feet. Although they were still in the state of Arizona, with hundreds and hundreds of miles to go until they could reach the settlement that they wanted to go to.

They had been on the road for slightly over six hours, as Damon drove all of the way. He pulled off at the three hour mark to take a break for himself and then drove for three hours more. In result having them be on the road for about six hours. The drive was mostly silent as Bonnie had kept to herself, but it was no surprise to him as she had made it clear that she wasn't too interested in having friendly conversation with himself.

He kept to himself in return, singing quietly to himself to overtake the silence of the ride. He glanced at the gas tank, as was expected the camper had ate up a lot of gas. At most he figured that they had an hour or maybe two more on the road before the tank completely ran empty. He was planning to use every bit of the gas, until the camper came to a stand still.

His plan worked out for forty additional minutes on the road, until something ahead forced him to step on the brakes to stop the camper.

Damon cursed.

Bonnie who was dozing off from where she sat, woke fully back up when she noticed him stopping the camper and cursing.

Damon cursed once more as he eyed the mess ahead of him.

"Why are we stopping?" Bonnie wondered.

"There's a roadblock ahead." Damon replied.

"Huh?" She didn't understand what he was saying at first.

Damon repeated. "We have a roadblock, this camper won't fit through and we won't be able to drive any further."

Getting to her feet, Bonnie walked to the front of the camper to see what he was talking about.

He sat in the driver's seat staring ahead at what was before them in the road.

Looking out of the windshield of the camper, Bonnie spotted what he saw. The scene before them was of the two lane highway completely blocked with old, rusted cars. As far as the eye could see, even the shoulders of the road was blocked with cars. Cars which had all been going in the same direction, like a bunch of people had been trying to drive out of the area at the same time and got stuck as a result.

The road was totally blocked and there wasn't a passable area before them. Not even a small car could pass, much less the big camper that they had. Damon was right when he said that they wouldn't be able to drive any further.

"Damn." Bonnie went with equal disappointed.

"Yeah, that is a good old traffic jam right there." Damon clicked his tongue.

"There's no way we are getting this thing past the traffic jam." Bonnie muttered.

"Nope, there isn't." He popped the p.

She looked out. "What in the world do we do now then?"

He answered. "We'll have to get out in walk it seems."

Bonnie's lips curved downward. "Too bad, there is still some gas left in here."

Damon gestured to the gauge. "Just enough to last us for about an hour or two more. We would have had to get out and walk on foot soon either way."

"Right." Bonnie headed to the back and picked up her bag pack. "I guess we should get out then."

"That is for the best. We can make a little more progress on foot before night fall." Damon mentioned.

She slung her backpack over her back and proceeded to head towards the exit of the camper.

Grabbing his duffle bag, Damon followed her outside. It was evening time now as they started to walk down the road and towards the traffic jam.

They observed this traffic jam as they got closer, within arms distance of it. It was obvious that this traffic jam had happened decades ago, somewhere around the time of the apocalypse happening. These people were running from whatever threat that was in the area at the time.

The two of them approached the car packed road with caution. They were bumper to bumper, with the age of years not being used showing on them. It wasn't a pretty sight to imagine them desperately trying to escape whatever was a threat to their lives and well being.

For a moment Damon and Bonnie just stood there eyeing the grim scene before them.

Then she broke the silence. "These people they were trying to get away from something."

His expression turned serious. "Definitely they were trying to evacuate and get out of this place."

"Evacuating from what exactly?" Bonnie glanced briefly at him.

"Most likely from a weather disaster. I mean that is what wiped out a lot of the human race back then, a whole bunch of natural disasters which carried out for months." Damon stated.

"A major disaster of some sort was about to threaten to come to this area. Maybe a big storm of some sorts and these people knew that it was coming and tried to get away." Bonnie put it together.

Damon put in. "Then they got trapped here in this traffic jam, because too many for trying to leave at the same time."

Bonnie shook her head. "How long had it been before the planet start going to shit when these people were trying to escape. If it had been days or weeks then I imagine how nerves would have been frayed and couldn't blame them for trying if they learned of a disaster heading this way."

His eyes scanned over the cars and trucks. In a few he spotted skeletons. Skeletons that had once belonged to people, who had passed away those thirty years ago when it all had started. Their flesh had decayed away and now all that was left was bone and the tattered clothes that hung off of them,

It wasn't a pretty sight at all. "Some tried to get out and died being stranded here." He added.

"It must have been a terrible ordeal, the panic and the hopelessness in which they felt." Bonnie said as she had seen the skeletons too. Even though her living in the post apocalyptic world had made her witness a ton of horrendous things. Including countless deaths and killings.

She still found herself feeling some empathy for what she saw before her. Imagining the emotions in which the people back then had to go through. The fact that some died in their cars, never getting the help that they sought made the situation even sadder.

Looking out Damon felt pity those people, thinking about how the situation must have played out decades ago. "They most likely never saw it coming before it all happened. Then one day the planet's weather system starts to go haywire and they lose everything that they ever knew. Their lives and the world never being the same again."

"I guess it was extremely difficult for them, losing what was a normal, daily routine life for them. Because of what happened, we now live with the consequences of a harsh place in present time." She was somber, as she was well aware of the millions who had died back then, even though she wasn't around to witness it.

"Truthfully, I can't even act like I would know what it's like to lose what was considered a normal world back then. All I know is of this post apocalyptic planet is our 'normal', as melancholy as that sounds. It's the brutal truth. Now the normal is just fighting tooth and nail to survive each day." Damon added.

Bonnie didn't want to stand there for much longer and look out on the traffic jam and the skeletons. It was really downing to her mood. "We better move along."

"We should. I think that it would be best if we took a detour from the road." Damon told her.

"You don't think it's safe to keep walking on the road after what we ran into." Bonnie wondered.

"I don't." Damon turned away from the traffic jam to face her. "This area is too crowded with vehicles on the road. Which means it could attract some unwanted people if anyone is around."

"In return attracting their unwanted attention to us." Bonnie got it. She had enough experience to know which places could attract the bad people. Finding people could be few and far between, but there were some areas that tended to have more people, even in an underpopulated world like this one. And one where there were a bunch of cars piled up together was one of them.

Someone like bandits might come to try and look into the cars for supplies or something useful for them in which they could take. If these bandits had spotted the two of them, then they one hundred percent try to rob her and Damon for all that they had on them.

"Correct, we have weapons to defend ourselves with. But, I'm all for avoiding any confrontations if we can. If we take a small detour off of the road, we can still head East but just on a safer path hopefully." Damon pointed out.

"Better safe than sorry." Bonnie thought.

"Let's get out of here." Damon added.

Because she knew that one couldn't dwell on the awful events that happened no matter how tragic they were. Bonnie put her thoughts and feelings on the subject aside as she and Damon detoured from the road.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

The detour took them on the path that was parallel to the road for about a half mile on so. And it was a half mile into the woods that they had found. They kept pressing their way ahead until it was near dusk, then they settled down into a clearing in the woods. And that is where they camped down for the night. After having a small meal of dinner, with the food that they had, the two of them went to sleep.

Bonnie slept through the night mostly well, despite being outside. And when she started to stir from her sleep it had nothing to do with the elements outside, but the dreams that appeared into her mind. Dreams which were nightmares, the type of nightmares that she had occasionally about a horrible event in the past that still haunted her. And caused her to have bad dreams from time to time.

It was one such nightmare that had Bonnie jerking from her sleep, waking up in a startled fashion. And she opened her eyes to the morning sun just starting to make it's way over the horizon and to Damon watching her as he had already been awake.

Damon noticed the way that she had woken up. "Morning."

"Uh, Morning." Bonnie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Those nightmares can be something else." Damon quietly said.

"What?" She blinked questioning to herself how he knew she had a nightmare.

He gestured gently. "I figured you just had a nightmare right now."

She sat up. "Who says I did."

Damon insisted. "I can tell. I would recognize it, as I had some myself."

"Why do you care?" Bonnie had more annoyance in her tone than she meant to. It wasn't like he said anything wrong, but being the closed up person that she was, she didn't feel comfortable with him seeing through the fact that she had a nightmare.

"I was just observing, I didn't mean any offense by it." Damon directed.

In response Bonnie remained silent refusing to show any emotion.

Damon eyed her. "You could talk to me about it if you'd like, I'm all ears."

Unconsciously Bonnie rubbed at her arms. "Why would I want to talk with you about it?"

Damon shrugged. "Just for the reason how telling a person about a nightmare might help one cope with how they had it."

"There is nothing for me to tell you." Bonnie denied.

"Are you sure?" Damon tried once more to get her to open up about what he knew she had experienced.

"Damon." Bonnie said his name in a soft but firm warning.

The black haired man let out a breath. "Too personal?"

"Too personal." Bonnie confirmed.

This time it was he who remained silent, he just sat there and studied her with his eyes.

Bonnie looked away from his sapphire gaze, diverting her attention away, as she dream faded in her mind. "What are we doing next."

He saw how quickly she had changed the subject but decided not to press. "Let's explore the forest, see what we can find."

"Fine by me." Was all that she said.

They gathered up their bags and their items and began to move deeper into the woods. About forty minutes into their hike they came up upon a mid sized, river. Which had clear water and a gentle flowing current.

"We need to stop here and have some breakfast." Damon spoke up.

She just nodded in agreement, it was the first body of water that they had come up on, ever since they had started on this journey together.

He placed his duffle bag on the ground and eyed the river for a moment. "You know, how would you like fish for breakfast?"

She turned to him. "Fish."

"Fish." Damon confirmed. "This river is streaming with them I'm sure. I can try to catch a couple and cook them up."

"Sure, sounds like a plan. But, what are you planning to fish with, we don't have any fishing poles." Bonnie pointed out.

Damon grinned showing his teeth. "Of course Bon-Bon, I'm going to make a fishing weapon with something that this forest provides for us."

Bonnie paused at the fact that he had called her 'Bon-Bon' and brushed it aside. "Okay then Damon, show me what you are going to make a fishing weapon with."

"Just wait here." Damon pointed a finger in the air, then turned towards a set off trees.

Watching him closely Bonnie stood where she was, curious to see what he was going to create to fish with.

Damon looked on the ground, searching until he found what he wanted. Then he grinned more as he picked up a long stick. "I've got it."

"You're planning a catching fish with a stick." Bonnie raised both eyebrows.

"Patience, I'm using this stick but it's not quite ready as a weapon yet." Damon carried the stick over and then retrieved his knife out of his bag. Then he started to run the edge of the knife over the top of the stick.

Folding her arms over her chest Bonnie kept watching what he was doing. It didn't take her long to figure it out. He appeared to be sharpening the top of the stick with his knife.

He continued to run the blade of the knife over the stick, shaving off little pieces and a time. Until his effort had him now holding a stick with a sharp, pointy end. Sharp enough to stab something.

"Oh." Bonnie mouthed as she saw the finished product.

"There, a perfect spear for fishing!" Damon exclaimed.

"It only will be perfect if it actually succeeds in catching fish." Bonnie mumbled.

"It will, you'll see." Damon said to her.

Bonnie waved a hand towards the river. "Then show me because I'm getting hungry here."

Taking his spear Damon went over to the river with it. He quickly kicked off his boots and socks and stepped bare footed into the middle of the river. Peering down into the clear water he waited with patience. It took a few minutes but fish soon some fish started to swim by. Which included a few large schools of fish.

He tried stabbing his spear down into the water to catch some fish, but he missed as they were swimming very fast. And it was harder to catch them than it looked. He made several attempts with his spear but for about five minutes kept missing.

"Need some assistance?" Bonnie asked out from the shore line.

"No, I've got this." Damon grumbled.

Bonnie just smirked, but cheered him on in the inside since she really wanted to be able to eat some fish now.

He forced himself to concentrate on the fish more and tried again. After a few more attempts, he thrusted his spear into the water and it finally stabbed through a fish. Then he tried again and the spear caught onto two more fish.

Now he had managed to get three fish onto his spear. Damon stood in the river and head the spear over his head with the wiggling fish on it. Letting out a holler of celebration. "Wooo Hooo."

"Wow, you actually did it." Bonnie deadpanned.

"I told you that I would." Damon went in nearly a gloating tone.

"So you did." Bonnie shrugged.

He took the steps out of the river and stepped onto the shore where she was. "It wouldn't hurt to congratulate me, you know."

She arched a brow. "Uh huh."

"Congratulate me on being quite the fisherman." Damon wiggled his eyebrows.

Being honest with herself she really was impressed with how he had caught the fish, especially with just using a spear and not a fishing pole or bait. However, she didn't let how impressed she really was show too much on the outside.

"You did alright." Bonnie waved her hand in a back and forth motion.

"I did more than alright, I'm did awesome!" Damon did a dance to show how happy he was at his accomplishment in catching the fish.

And the way that he was dancing combined with the goofy grin on his face had Bonnie pressing her lips together to fight the urge to laugh, so he resisted the urge by clearing her throat.

Damon clutched the spear in his hands, as the fish died. "Just like at the size of them."

Bonnie's did and her eyes widened. "I do have to say, they are rather large."

"Exactly, that is some good eatin right there." Damon commented.

"I'm looking forward to eating them then." Bonnie returned.

"It's going to take me about twenty minutes to clean them, also to build the fire to cook them." Damon directed at her. "Do you mind waiting for that long."

"I'm sure that I can manage." Bonnie rubbed at her stomach.

He paused collecting his thoughts and then came up with an idea. "The river is nice, clear and looks clean enough. It could be used for more than fishing, like we could use it to also get ourselves clean."

She looked over the water. "Bathing you mean."

He nodded. "That's correct."

Hygiene and bathing or showering wasn't always a first priority in this world. Finding food, surviving and self places to shelter were much more important. Still Bonnie had tried to keep herself clean as much as the available sources allowed her to be.

And she hadn't been able to get a decent bath in since she left with Damon. The river provided the best often for some kind of bath, since she had been traveling with him.

"Yeah, I could use a cleaning." Bonnie agreed.

"I could too. Why don't you go and have one while I clean the fish and build the fire." Damon suggested.

"I could use some privacy though…..no offense." Bonnie went with a look around the woods which surrounded them.

"None taken, I promise I won't be a peeping tom." Damon jerked his thumb. "If you head down the river some you can have privacy."

Bonnie gestured. "I'll head downstream, but I'll be back."

Damon made a verbal sound letting her know that he had heard her.

Bonnie took her bag and walked downstream. She walked enough distance until he was out of sight and she couldn't hear him anymore. Making sure that she was far enough from him where he wouldn't be able to see her. Then she got the soap out of her bag, and stripped out of her clothes.

Naked, she approached the river and tested it with her toes. It was cool, but because of the time of year just warm enough to allow for a person to swim comfortably in without getting cold. And to her it was good enough to get some of the dirt and grime off of her body. She stepped in until the water was around her waist.

Then used the soap to wash her body off with her hands. After over five minutes of bathing, she rinsed the soap off of her body and took some time to enjoy being in the river before stepping out. She let the air dry her body off before putting her clothes back on. And felt cleaner than she had in days. The river did a decent job of washing away the dirt and keeping her body odor down.

Bonnie grabbed her bag and headed back in the direction where Damon was. When she came up on him, she saw that he had finished cleaning the fish and had built the fire using some sticks, twigs and brush. He had found something to make a makeshift pan out of and was using it to cook the fish over the fire.

As soon as the scent of the fish cooking hit her nose, her mouth started to water. Maybe that had to do with how hungry she was, but it made her mouth water nonetheless.

"Damn, that smells good." Bonnie confessed.

"Have a seat, it will be ready shortly." Damon told her.

She took a seat next to the fire and watched as he tended to the fish.

It took some moments more, but soon the fish was ready. Damon gave her one big fish and kept one for himself. They took some of the food that they already had gathered when they left Bonnie's home and used the powerade that Damon had found to drink.

Damon sat next to her with his food and drink. "We have quite the delicious meal here."

Bonnie took a sip out of her bottle of powerade. It tasted refreshing since she was used to drinking water. "Yeah."

Then they two of them began to eat their late breakfast.

She ate the cooked fish which was the first warm food that she had in awhile, and ate the crackers she had spilt with Damon. Looking around the quiet forest, and the light breeze in their air, under the warm sun. As they sat next to the fire. And at the time she appreciate the quiet and peaceful moment.

"You know." Bonnie admitted. "This isn't half bad."

He ate some fish with his fingers and gave her a half smile. "Nope, not half bad at all."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They picked up their stuff and put out the fire once they had finished eating their meal. They had rested for hours and were planning to move out again in an hour or so. But, Damon needed to get his bath in first.

He took his shirt off, then walked pantless and barefooted in an area away from where Bonnie was. He wasn't as modest about his nudity as she was, but he figured that she wouldn't be interested in seeing him bare assed. So, he went in another area out of respect for her as much as he did for his privacy.

Damon took off the rest of his clothes, then got into the river to wash himself up. He stayed in long enough to wash off the grime from him and to scrub off the stink. After he was done he pulled back on his pants, then headed back in the direction that he came.

Bonnie sat in the ground waiting for him to return so that they could get moving again. She watched as he approached in his shirtless well toned torso and arms. With the strong V shape structure of his pelvis showing through. And a trail of thin hair starting beneath his belly button and disappearing beneath his pants.

Thought to herself that he had a damn fine body, before she could stop her thoughts. Then he turned his back towards her to get his shirt and she was caught off guard and startled by what she saw.

On his back from his shoulder blades down to his lower back were scars and lacerations. Not just any type of scars, but the type of scars that had shown that he had been burned perhaps someway in the past. And they covered almost his entire back. The scars were old and they were healed however, still were signs that he may have been injured at some point in the past.

And they look like they were severe and really painful at the time in which he got them. Suddenly without explanation she found herself bothered and concerned about how he had gotten hurt. Questioned if he had gotten burned in some sort of accident. She was about to open her mouth and ask him what had happened to him, then closed her mouth and pulled back on that question. Asking him such a thing would be considered very personal and she didn't want to seem like she cared, because by her rules she refused to get too friendly with him. This was just a business agreement after all between them.

He pulled the shirt over his torso, covering his back and his scars, following that he put on his shoes and socks, turning to her. "You ready?"

Bonnie kept her face blank. "I'm ready."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

For three and a half more weeks they slowly made their way East on foot, passing by through mostly rural areas and coming across the small town or a group of buildings every now and then. It took them long hours and days to travel from place to place, doing their usual routine of settling down to rest for the night, then walking more when day time came.

Yet at the same time, time seemed to go by quickly. Since they had met it had now been a full month and one week since they had traveled together. And in that time Bonnie had treated Damon as less than strictly a business partner and more of an acquaintance. Which was far from her treating him as her friend, but he considered that a progress even if it was a slight one. It appeared she was trusting him more and more with each passing day they spent together.

She still kept him at a certain distance personally. Whenever he dug too close into comments or questions about her or her life, she would shut him down or close herself up. He wondered why she hesitated so much into getting close with anyone.

Their slow but steady traveling on foot had now gotten them just over the border and now they were a couple of miles into New Mexico. Their food supply had just ran out a couple of days ago, as they had a limited amount of what they could pack into their bags. And between two people the food ran out faster than they thought it would. Even though Bonnie had originally stored enough food to last herself for a few months, the limited amount of food that they could carry, combined with being on the road for slightly over a month had dwindled their food supply.

They searched high and low every where they went for some food, but so far their search was futile. Leaving them without having anything to eat for two and a half days, and both of them starting to grow famished. They just had about six bottles of water left between them to help sustain them from going thirsty as well. Not even a deer, rabbit or squirrel could be found for at least Bonnie to be able to hunt with her bow and arrow for some wild meat to cook up and eat.

They spent half of the day searching and not finding what they needed before they had to stop for a rest.

"Damn it." Bonnie cursed. "We're not having much luck at the moment."

"We're not, Our luck has to pick up sometime though and we will find food soon." Damon said.

"I hope that you are right." Bonnie sighed.

He opened his bottle of water to take a few sips.

She reached grabbed her flashlight to test it, just as she expected the batteries had ran low and it was no longer working. She searched through her bag to try and find more to put in, but couldn't find the batteries with her items.

"Need something?" Damon questioned.

"Batteries for why flashlight. Do you have any." Bonnie replied.

"I do." Damon confirmed. "Just look through my duffle bag."

"Alright." Bonnie went and did that. She opened the zipper on his bag, rifling through his things to find what she was looking for. Shortly she find a pack of batteries and grabbed them. Then she noticed something shiny in his bag that had been underneath the batteries.

She squinted her eyes to see what they were. And one she identified what it as her mood went from contentment to shock, then to anger within a blink of an eye. And she stared down in the bag for a long minute without saying anything.

Damon witnessed how her mood had changed suddenly to an chilly anger. "Are you okay?"

Bonnie didn't say a word. She just continued to stare down at the shiny item which made her blood begin to boil.

"Hey, Bonnie." Damon waved his hand to get her attention.

She looked up at him and eyed him with a steely stare from her emerald green eyes.

"What's going on with you." Damon frowned at her.

"You're a fucking Militia." Bonnie finally spoke with her tone being so icy cold that it could have froze the air around them.

He nearly choked on the water he was drinking. Taken by surprise, how did she found out that he was in the Mitila?

Bonnie knelled their eyeing him with anger waiting for him to respond to her discovery.

"I have no idea where you get the idea that I'm in the Militia." Damon gave a nervous chuckle in hopes to play it off.

"Really." Bonnie went on coolly. "Care to explain these dog collar tags with your name on them? They read Damon Salvatore." She yanked the shiny, sliver tags out of his bag and tossed them on the ground for him to see.

"I've ran into enough Militiamen to know that they wear these types of tags, the same types of tag in which you have. No need to play stupid with me and deny the truth of who you belong to." Bonnie added darkly.

He had an 'oh shit' moment in his mind, he had been caught by her. He had totally forgotten that he tossed those tags in his duffle bag. "Bonnie, listen to me I can explain."

She cut him off, her words spitting out like a whip. "Explain what, are you in the militia or not."

Damon swallowed. "Well, sort of but….."

Bonnie interrupted him. "There is no sort of you're one of them."

"Yeah, it used to be like that." Damon admitted.

"Used to be like that? What in the hell does that mean." Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Meaning I was in the Militia but it's not like that anymore. I'm no longer part of them." Damon told her.

She let out a humorless sort. "Right."

He insisted. "It's true…..I was part of the Militia but I left them a few weeks before I ran into you."

Bonnie got to her feet. "And just when were you plan on telling me that you are a member of the Militia?"

"I don't know." Damon returned.

"So, you were never going to tell me then." Bonnie spat.

"After you let it be known how much you hated the Mittilla, I hesitated to tell you, because I was concerned it might have you reacting in a negative fashion." Damon licked his lips.

"Bullshit." Bonnie placed her has on her hips in a disapproving manner. "You didn't tell me because you were watching out for yourself, knowing I would never agree to travel with you if I knew you were a part of that group."

Damon groaned. "Okay, yeah I was looking out for myself. But, I honestly didn't want to upset you since the subject of the Militia does so."

Bonnie was steaming. "You lied to me."

Damon shook his head. "I didn't lie to you, technically you never asked me what group I was a part of, leaving me never to deny it."

"I repeat bullshit." She scoffed. "You mislead me, and have been misleading me for weeks. Keeping a major truth about yourself from me, knowing that it would have a change into accepting you. I should have known better than to trust you."

"You can trust me." Damon directed.

"I refuse to trust anyone who is a part of the scum that is the Militia." Bonnie countered.

He opened his mouth to defend himself.

She held up her hand to stop him from talking. "Your own actions prove to me that I can't trust you. I spared your life back in Arizona, spilt all of the damn food we could carry with you, to the point that we have now ran out. And you repay me by keeping such a big detail about yourself away from me."

Damon took a step forward. "And I meant it I appreciate you for that and that I owe you and will return the favor."

"Don't you dare take a step closer to me. I can't believe that I trusted your word. This was all just a ruse on your part to step me up with a trap with your fellow Milla psychopaths." Bonnie accused.

"It wasn't a ruse, it's not a trap. I'm sincere about leading you to the settlement in Virginia with me. For sure I'm not leading you to any Mitila psychopaths. My goal for while in fact has been to get away from them." Damon commented.

"Your word means nothing to me at the moment, because you are one of them. The Militia are filled with nothing but cruel, heartless sociopaths who spread terror and kill for the simple thrill of it. They're all cold blooded murderers." She snapped out.

His eyes scanned over her. "That's true, a whole bunch of sociopaths are in that group. However, I am different from most of the Militia."

Bonnie challenged. "How they are known for murdering innocent people in cold blood, tell me the truth Damon, have you murdered innocent people along with them?"

Damon tensed up at the question. "I did what I had to do at the time."

She sneered in disgusted. "Then that tell me you have murdered innocent people."

"Yes, I confess to having killed innocent people. But, it's definitely, one hundred percent something that I'm not proud of." Damon felt guilt with admitting this.

"How can you claim to be different if you murder just like they do." Bonnie lifted her chin.

"Because I didn't do it for the thrill, and I feel bad about it while most of them could care less about killing." Damon implied.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Telling me that you feel remorse for what you've done."

Damon confirmed. "I do indeed feel remorse."

"Please don't give me that just because you're trying to backtrack out of the fact that I caught you. You had me fooled for a minute that you could be a decent, trustworthy man. But, I know from experience that anyone in the Militia isn't capable of being anything but cold blooded pigs." Bonnie snapped out.

"Obviously the Militia must have done something personal towards you in order for you to hate them so much." Damon observed.

"Hate is an understatement. I despise the Militia with every fiber of by being, for everything that they represent. And for good reason considering they are the reason why my Father is dead." Bonnie revealed with her anger growing.

"Wait a second, they played a hand in your father's death." Damon was taken aback.

She didn't intend to reveal such a personal detail of her past to him, she was just so pissed at him during the moment it slipped out. "They more than played a hand, they are the ones who directly murdered him before my very eyes. And he did not a thing towards them to justify it. They just ended his life in cold blood because they wanted to."

He had sympathy towards her. "It's terrible that it happened to your father, you have every right to be furious with the Militia about it. Still I I played no part in that, so you don't have to hold it personally against me."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "If you're a member of them, directly or indirectly you agree with the disgusting acts they stand for."

"You don't understand, the reason why I left is because I could no longer be for what they stand for." Damon grumbled.

"What else do you do that other Militiamen do besides slaughter innocent people, do you go around raping women like they do to." Bonnie shook her head. She hadn't been raped herself, but she had ran upon women who had been raped in the rampage of the Militia coming through the area.

Such an accusation for her had Damon getting offended. "Watch your step there, I only have ever slept with willing women who had wanted me."

Bonnie retorted. "Still you have murdered innocent people."

Damon focused on her trying to remain steady. "I needed to do it in order to survive, to live. Just like you have had to kill in order for survival."

"Did you just try to compare the two? Because they are nowhere near the same. I kill only in self defense, when I am threatened, and when it is necessary." Bonnie lashed out. "The Militia the group that you're apart of only kill for the sake of it, because they want to hold power over defenseless, weaker human beings."

"And wouldn't we like to live in a world where we wouldn't have to kill at all. The reality is that such a place ended a long time ago. Now we are forced to live by the rule of the survival of the fitness and as ruthless as it sounds that is the truth. I had to come from somewhere, where moral grounds needed to be crossed." Damon raised his tone. "Maybe if you stopped judging me enough long enough to listen, you would understand why I had to make some immoral decisions."

"Save it, no need of trying to explain why you choose to help murder innocent people, because I'm not interested in listening and want nothing to do with you any longer." Bonnie stated through gritted teeth.

"Bonnie, just wait a minute." Damon pleaded.

She nearly yelled. "No." Then grabbed her backpack and put it on her back. She started to walk away from him.

He called out. "Where do you think you are going?"

She paused in her steps. "Away from you, as far away as I can get."

"Now, hold on I know that you are upset, but you can't be so hasty." Damon went in disbelief. "You just can't roam off without me."

"Watch me do it, and it wouldn't be smart on your part to try and stop me." Bonnie warned him.

"That's it then, you're just going to go off all of this way trying to get to the settlement by yourself." Damon croaked in disbelief.

Bonnie gave him a long glare. "I don't know where I'm going now. Just as long as it's not in the same place you will be."

Damon rubbed at the back of his neck in irritation. "You're just going to go off alone for hundreds of miles to fend for yourself, by yourself because you are caught up in your emotions. That doesn't seem like a smart choice to make for surviving."

She made a wild gesture with her hands. "Guess what Damon, I've been living off on my own, surviving alone for years. I've been doing it long before you, so I damn sure don't need you to survive now."

"You're wrong, don't be so irrational." He lowered his tone.

Hearing him call her irrational set her off even more. "Let me tell you something, just leave me the fuck alone and let me go. You have the nerve to call me irrational, when you belong to the lowest scum on earth in the Mitlia. Wherever I choose to go it will be different from where you're going. Because I wish not to see you ever again, In fact I couldn't careless if you dropped dead off the place of the earth." Bonnie finished with fury.

The dagger of her vicious words hit their mark square center, it bruised his ego and more so hurt his feelings. So he responded in kind. "If that's the game you wish to want, then I'll play it. If you want to continue to be a frigid, closed off person then so be it. I see now why it's not surprising why you are a loner, because you drive off any one who might want something to do with you, by your stuck up personality" Damon said harshly.

"If your request is to leave." He pointed. "Then get the fuck out of here."

"Glady." She returned just as harshly, then stormed up leaving him there by himself.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thank you for those who took the time to read and review the last chapter on this story. And who have read this update. More feedback is appreciated.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	6. Chapter 6

Bonnie was fuming and furious, she was ever since she had found out the truth about Damon belonging to the scum group that was known as the Militia. The Militia which she saw as the most callous, socio pathetic set of human beings on the face of the earth. As she could witness upfront how cruel that they could be and let Damon be well aware of her disdain for them.

So it pissed her off beyond words that he had kept the fact he was in the Militia from her. She was so high in her emotions, when after she stormed off from him all she could think about was how he had misled her. She thought about it so much that she couldn't catch an ounce of sleep during the night and she was still just as angry when morning time came around. She hadn't seen Damon since she had left him behind the day before, and had no wish to see him ever again after what he had pulled.

How dare he for a full month travel with her, while he hid such important information from her. Making her believe that he was someone that she could eventually trust, and the thing was that despite her being a highly guarded person she was actually really beginning to trust him as someone who would have her back and help her get their destination if Virginia. She was honestly starting to see him as someone she could rely on, on survival level.

Then when she discovered those dog tags in his bag, she felt like the biggest idiot for going along with his plan and allowing herself to believe that she could trust him. When he just re enforced the reason why she didn't have personal relationships in this world in the first place. She was pissed off because not only she felt betrayed, but she felt hurt as well. And was confused to why she felt hurt, because it wasn't like she cared about him on a personal level. Yet, him keeping something that was so key in her decision making on whether or not she would agree to go with him had troubled her.

Now her teaming up with him had caused her to leave what was a safe space back in Arizona or about as safe as it could get in this world. And she had shared her food with him, which had now fan out. At the moment she was furious with Damon for lying to her, plus it being now a few days since she last had something to eat, she was rather hungry. The empty stomach managed to have her cranky. And between the lack of food and the foul mood that she was in, she had the dull ache of a headache brooding at the temple of her head.

Thought ran through her mind on what she should do next. Should she turn and go back to the home she had in Arizona before Damon came along and convinced her to go with him. Then she realized that it would take her over a month to make the track back there. She didn't want to continue on to the settlement because that was where Damon was going, plus he had the map anyway so if she decided to go there, then she would have to guess the direction for the rest of the way.

The third option was for her to settle someplace new, find a place where there was a decent enough human population and using her smuggling skills like she had been using to survive alone for all of these years. The third option was better for her than the first two, so it was the one she would go with. She would find a new place with enough people and get back into her smuggling business. And trade supplies for food, water, and clothes like she had done before.

She figured that she needed to find the next closest area to her with populated humans. Towns and Cities with these populations were spread out all across the land. And there was often times where it was hundreds and hundreds of miles between one populated place to another. All in between there was either no humans around or just a handful who lived in certain areas.

Which left Bonnie with the complicated task of finding out exactly where to go. She mostly had done her smuggling business in California, Arizona, and a few times in Nevada. And she knew where to go in those states. However, she was unfamiliar with New Mexico and thoughts fan through her mind about which direction was best to go in for her.

She kept walking in hopes to find some food or at least a clue on if she was heading in the right direction of a populated area. She wandered into a abandoned suburb, which was lined with dilapidated houses and homes. Her thoughts were so clouded and she was still focused on her anger towards Damon that she didn't realize she was alone.

It took her a moment to see that someone was close to her. Bonnie looked around and soon spotted a man approaching her from in between a pair of houses. Instantly she was put on her guard.

"Hey there." The man said to her in a deep Southern accent.

"Who in the hell are you?" Bonnie asked on alert.

"I just saw you walkin' around, it looked like you were lost." The man replied.

"I'm perfectly fine." Bonnie returned in a guarded tone.

The man took a step closer to her. "You sure, cause I could help you."

Bonnie put her hand on the but of her pistol, which was in her holster. "How about helping yourself by remaining right where you are."

He held up his hands as if in surrender. "Hey, now there is no need to get aggressive I ain't done nothing to you."

She warned. "You need to go back the way that you came and not approach me."

"That ain't a nice way to greet me, when I came out in a polite way." The man spoke like he had been smoking cigarettes for a while.

"I couldn't give a shit about how polite you claim to be. Something is off about you." Bonnie said keeping her eyes trained on him.

This man gave her a creepy grin. "Why do you say that something is off with me?"

Bonnie's tone was suspicious. "Just a hunch."

Now this man gave her a creepy snicker. "I guess you would be right about that, give me everything that you own right now."

Bonnie didn't move an inch. "You must be missing a few brain cells if you think that I'm going to give you anything that I own."

"I'm telling you to turn over your bagpack and whatever you have of value." This man demanded.

"No." Bonnie refused.

"You just told me No." This man hacked.

Bonnie emphasized. "That would be hell no."

This man laughed like a hyena. "I ain't giving you a choice, give me all of your stuff or else you'll be sorry."

"I would like to see you try to take my stuff from me." Bonnie stated in a dangerous way.

"Don't play a tough guy and get yourself hurt." This man eyed her with googly eyes as he took a step even closer.

She wrapped her fingers around on of the guns in her holster.

Pulling out a big butcher name, the man advancing on her. "Give me what I want or I'll gut you like a fish."

Having enough Bonnie took out her pistol and aimed it at him. "Try it, your body will be filled with so many holes faster than you can blink."

The man froze in his tracks upon seeing her gun. "You ain't going to get a chance to do that."

Bonnie put her finger on the trigger to show she wasn't bluffing.

"You shoot me and my buddies will kill ya." The man wildly put in.

Before she could responded Bonnie felt the presence of more people around her. Company in which she knew wasn't good for her side. She felt a person step up behind her and soon felt the end up a weapon pressed against the back of her shoulder. Although she couldn't see what the weapon was she guessed that it was a knife.

"I would like to introduce you to my fellow backup." This man swung his butcher knife back and forth.

Bonnie cursed under her breath, she had been distracted by the man in front of her and didn't realize that he had company until it was too late. Out of nowhere she was suddenly surrounded by four other men, one behind her pressing a weapon to her back and the original one that was in front of her. Which meant that she had five opposing men around her.

"I'm Billy Bob in case you would like to know." The man drawled. "And me and my boys run this territory around here. And you stepping into it makes you fair game."

She eyed Billy Bob with a deadly glare.

Billy Bob went on. "Our rules around here is that anybody coming through has to give us all of their stuff. We take everything and split up the profits among us. It been months since a person last came through though, so you comin' through is perfect timing for us."

Her eyes scanned the men around her, as she was judging on how to get herself out of the situation. The odds were outside her as if was one to five, but they all had knives and not guns as far as she could tell. If she was quick enough with her trigger finger then perhaps she could take them all down.

"Since you are out numbered how about you give up your stuff like a proper woman." Billy Bob commanded.

"How about you go fuck yourself." Bonnie spat out with venom.

"You can either give up your stuff and get going, or not give it up and get dead." Billy Bob said to her.

Bonnie sneered unfazed. "I'm not giving you shit."

Billy Bob huffed. "Then I'll guess you'll have to go down putting up a fight."

"I don't mind putting up a fight at all." Bonnie quickly pulled her gun out of her holster and shot off a bullet faster than any of the men could react around her.

The bullet hit Billy Bob square in his forearm. Causing him to fall backwards on the ground clutching at his arm. "Dang, I got hit."

Quick as a ninja she whipped around and smashed the man who was behind her with the butt of her pistol up against his face. Startled by her quick movements, that man staggered back as the knife that he was holding clattered to the ground. Blood gushed out of his nose from where her pistol had made contact. Before he could regain himself she shot a bullet out, which punched through his heart and hand him crumbling to the ground instantly dead.

She prepared to whirl around and shoot the men that were remaining. But, before she could one of the others tackled her hard to the ground from her side. Bonnie temporarily lost her breath as the weight of the other man landed on top of her. This caused her to lose her grip on her pistol, as the man who hand tackled her began to physically assault her. She struggled to get him off of her which caused her gun to be trapped underneath her body out of reach.

So she went to grab for her other handgun. But, her arms were pinned to her side as the man used his strength over her to pin her down. As Billy Bob wobbled around with the bullet wound in his arm. His other buddies went up towards her where she was being pinned down on the ground. Letting out a string of curses, she kneed the man on top of her in the groin with as much force as she could.

The man let out a verbal wheeze and grabbed at his crotch. Rolling over on the ground next to her as the sharp pain to his balls made his body jerk. She tried to scramble back to her feet, but was outnumbered still. The three other men were on her knocking her back to the ground.

Billy Bob got to his feet, holding his bleeding arm. "Hold that bitch down boys."

The others teamed up to restrain her.

Seeing one of his buddies dead, Billy Bob became anger. "You killed our friend, you're going to pay for that."

Even as she tried to fight out of the grasp of the others Bonnie smirked. "You're more than welcome to join him."

Billy Bob walked up and saw one of his other team mates rolling on the ground, grabbing at his balls and groaning in pain.

"For goodness sakes, Peter get up." Billy Bob ordered.

"I can't she crushed my nuts." Peter wheezed out.

"She shot me in the arm and you see that I'm up." Billy Bob returned.

Peter still holding his sore balls moved to his knees. But, the blow that he received still had pain radiating all through his midsection limiting him.

"Keep her down, I'm going to slice her up." Billy Bob inched towards her with his butcher knife.

She fought like hell to get free, even though she was still being restrained by two other men. The knife was getting closer to stabbing her by the second.

Just as things were looking dire for the Bennett woman, a shot rang out in the air crashing through the silence. Before anyone knew it, a bullet pierced viciously through Billy Bob's skull, causing his blood to spatter. In an instant, the butcher knife slipped from his fingers and having no chance at living, he fell to the ground, his eyes wide open and lifeless as he lay dead.

All of them were guard off guard and looked towards the area where the gunshot from. The source of the gunshot was Damon, and he had fired it from his rifle with was aimed towards Billy Bob. Damon then came charging in their direction with his rifle still aimed. He shot one of the other men who was holding her down in the head and he too fell dead just like Billy Bob.

The remaining man who had been holding her down, grabbed for his knife out of panic and tried to maneuver to face towards a charging Damon. However, the distraction caused Bonnie to regain her bearings. And because she was no longer outnumbered, she was able to reach for her other pistol. She shot the remaining man at point blank range in his throat.

He made a gurgling noise as blood gushed out on his wound, like water pouring from a faucet. He collapsed the to ground, rolling around as blood pooled beneath him. Finally free Bonnie got to her feet and got her other pistol which had been trapped beneath her. And now she had both of her handguns.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked as he stepped next to her. "Are you hurt."

Bonnie didn't answer him, instead she went over to Peter who had been resting on his knees. But, seeing the sudden turn in the situation and that all of his buddies were dead except for him. Peter saw that he was in a shitload of trouble and tried to crawl away.

"Where do you think you're going." Bonnie questioned Peter with a cold, fury.

Peter kept trying to crawl away, but was stopped when Damon kicked him in his stomach with such force that it caused Peter to be flipped over to his back.

"Wait, don't shoot me." Peter pleaded towards Bonnie, with one of his hands held up.

"Screw it." Bonnie simply said, then proceeded to upload about three bullets into Peter's body killing him.

Placing his rifle in it's holder which was connected to his dufflebag now, Damon let out a breath. "Whew, I'm glad that I decided to come and find you."

On the day before in the hours after Bonnie had stormed off and left him alone. He was very irritated towards her and how the situation of her discovering that he had been a member of the Militia played out. Sure she had every right to be upset that he had kept such a secret from her. And he admitted to himself he was wrong for that. Still her reaction and some of the things she had said to him hit it's mark and his feelings and ego had been impacted.

Especially when she told him how she never wished she would see him, adding on how he could drop dead and she wouldn't care. He know that he made a mistake in hiding what he did from her, but he still find those words over the top and harsh. And thought to himself that if it was how she felt then he wanted nothing to do with her either. And said good riddance and that he was better off without her.

But, as the night went on and his feelings cleared up some, he found himself really bothered by how the confrontation had ended between them. Something in his heart was nagging at him that he couldn't just let this end this way, it had been nagging at him all throughout the night. This feeling that he just couldn't let her go or walk away. That he couldn't just settle with never seeing her again. Maybe it was the weeks he spent traveling with her, but he knew that it would only stop nagging at him when he saw her again. That was why be time morning came around he had decided to go and find her.

In that morning he had taken off to find her, going in the direction where he guessed she would go. Eventually he came near, then he heard the gunshots which had him sprinting off in the direction of them. When he spotted the scene of a couple of men holding her down on the ground, another man approaching her with a large knife as she struggled. His heart lumped in his throat as she was a short time away from being stabbed.

That was when he grabbed his hunting rifle, aimed it unloading it into the head of the man that was coming at her with a knife. Then he shot the either man. He felt fortunate that he had found her just in time, otherwise he might have walked up on her dead from a stab wound if he was a few minutes later. Then he would have really felt guilty if his last words to her were what they were in she had ended up dead.

Bonnie placed both pistols in their separate holsters and then turned to face Damon. "Why did you follow me? I thought that you got the hint yesterday that I never wanted to see you again."

His mouth dropped open at her cold reception for what he had just done. "Well, you're glad I didn't listen to you right."

"Wrong." Bonnie denied.

This wasn't the response thought that he was going to get. He expected more of a 'Thank you, Damon for saving my ass.' type of response from her. "Really, how about expressing appreciation to me for saving your life."

"I was handling myself just fine before you came along." Bonnie shook her head.

"Handling yourself? You were about to get stabbed." Damon was taken aback.

"I managed to fight off them off without you interfering." Bonnie returned.

"I have no doubts that you put up a fire fight." Damon grumbled. "But, the odds were still against you, and you were about to lose out before I came and balanced the score. So, you could at least show some gratefulness for me saving your ass."

Bonnie eyed him coolly. "So what, you expect me to fall at your feet in gratefulness, like you helping is suppose to make up for the fact that you lied to me and mislead me about where you were from."

He threw out his arms in frustration. "Wow, you're going to let the mistake that I made with keeping a secret from you stop you from being thankful I am the reason why you are still alive."

She made a verbal sound of exasperation. "Mistake. It's that what you call it. You kept something huge and major from me, knowing what me finding out the truth would mean. Never once for the month we have known each other have you thought about telling me the truth. You betrayed me, Damon."

"Fine, I admit that I should have told you the truth about how I used to belong to the Mitila, Bonnie. On that I was wrong." Damon told her seriously.

"You're correct about that one." Bonnie went in a condescending way.

"As wrong as I was from keeping the truth from you, I still saved you." Damon pointed out.

She folded her arms over her chest. "If that's what you want to believe, you can still go now and leave me the hell alone."

He made a dramatic gesture. "After a month of us teaming up, you're going to decide not to see me ever again and go about your own way."

Bonnie snarled. "I prefer not to have someone who belongs to the gutless, heartless, cowardly group known as the Mitla."

Damon defended. "As I said, I'm different from them."

"You confessed to killing innocent people just like they did." Bonnie retorted.

"And my actions against those innocent people eat me alive every damn day. I feel remorse and guilt for my past." Damon's voice went up an octave. "I'm trying my best to put my past behind me so that I will never commit those actions again. You don't know me well enough to understand why I did, what I did."

Despite how furious she was with him, she believed him when he expressed regret and guilt for his actions. "Still whatever you claim, doesn't mean that I need or want you around me."

He let out a humorless chuckle. "Of course not, because as fucked up as I am you have your flaws too."

"Excuse me." She narrowed her eyes.

"You saying that you don't want or need me around has more to do with me keeping the truth from you." Damon hinted. "You being closed off and unwilling to form friendships or a personal relationship with someone. Because for some reason you're afraid to open yourself up. You figure that it's better to built this steel wall around yourself and spend your life alone."

"But, as fucked up as this world is, that is not the way to go. Personal relationships are one of the few things that humanity has to hold onto in today's world. And you prefer not to have them, which is very sad. You'll isolate yourself, which may not seem bad now because you are still young. Then if you go on about isolating yourself for the rest of your life, you'll grow into an old, bitter lonely person and I would truly hate to see that happen to you, Bonnie." Damon finished.

She gritted her teeth, wanted to say something back but knew that he had a point about her being closed off.

"You can be pissed off at me all you want to, but I'm not going anywhere." Damon added firmly. "You need me whether you want to admit it or not, we need each other. You're stuck with me, I shouldn't have held the truth from you. But, you owe me a second chance, so give me that chance to prove myself to you."

"Just because you want a second chance doesn't mean I have to like giving you one." Bonnie resisted.

"Of course not, however you still have a chance to get to Virginia and get to that settlement for the best life any person can possibly have at the moment. Just because I screwed up doesn't mean you have to throw that chance away." Damon returned.

Considering his words for a few long minutes, Bonnie recently came to the view that he had a point, "Okay, I'll go with you to the settlement in Virginia. Only because I'm in this for myself, after we get there I can choose to go by separate way if I want to."

Running his hand over his wool hat he agreed. "Great, now can we get going on the path where we are headed to."

"Don't cross me again, Damon or there won't be a third chance for you." Was her response.

"Noted." Damon said with a slight smirk.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Just because she agreed to go with him again, didn't ease up her anger that she felt towards him for holding the truth from her. And through the rest of that day as they walked from one through the suburbs Damon could feel the tension coming off of her strong.

They still had yet to find any food and Bonnie was still in a foul mood. On top of that her the dull ache in her temples, had now grown to a full raging headache which was pounding in her head like a hammer, on the verge of a severe migraine.

Reaching into his pockets Damon pulled out a bottle of extra strength pain killer he had found on a recent salvage. "Here."

Bonnie glanced over at him then at the pill bottle in his hand. "What?"

"Take them for the pain you are in." Damon suggested.

"Who says I am in pain." Bonnie directed back.

"You have a headache pounding in your skull at this moment." Damon arched a brow.

How did could he see through her to know she had a headache, Bonnie wondered. She hadn't told him and didn't show outwardly that she was in pain. "I'm fine, I don't need your pills."

He frowned. "You won't get rid of the headache until you take some."

She mumbled. "You can keep them, I don't need relief if it's coming from you."

Damon insisted. "There are plenty in the bottle, so take a couple."

Bonnie refused. "I don't have to take orders from you."

"Damn it, stop being so stubborn and prideful and take the fucking pills." He snapped out flabbergasted.

"I'm being prideful?" Bonnie lurched back. "You have the audacity to speak to me in that way, with my foul mood towards you at the moment."

"That's just the thing, you're so pissed at me at this moment, you don't want to accept anything from me including pills that will help you." Damon pointed out.

She just sighed.

Damon stated in a tone more gentle. "Look you should really take these painkillers. Your headache is going to kept bothering you if you don't. And it's going to be difficult for you to concentrate on doing anything else if your pain gets to debilitating. Take them for yourself please."

Bonnie saw that he actually seemed worried about the headache she was having. And it was throbbing in her head to the point where she almost couldn't stand it. She wouldn't be able to focus on doing anything else if it got much worse. And she did want to relieve her headache. So, she gave in. "Alright, I'll take them."

"Good." He reached out the pill bottle to her.

She grabbed it from him, opening it up and put three pills into her hand. Then used the water in her bottle to swallow them down. She gave the pill bottle back to Damon.

Damon put the bottle back in his pocket. "I hope that they make you feel better soon."

"I hope so too." Bonnie mumbled.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Over the following two and a half days, they moved from one abandoned suburb to the next one which was a couple of miles away. Her anger had eased towards him slightly however, Damon could still tell that she was very displeased with him over the secret he had kept from her. Again he couldn't blame her and knew she wouldn't be getting over what he did overnight. But, he hope over the next coming days that he could prove himself to her and hoped that she would forgive him.

They had searched through the houses in the suburbs where they had killed Billy Bob, Peter and the others but still hadn't found much luck in finding food. They couldn't even find an animal around to hunt, kill and eat. Which left them both starving at this point.

They searched through the second suburbs that they reached all through that day, going by empty house by empty house. Now it was an hour before nightfall, with the sun just setting in the sky. They came upon a two story house at the end up the street. Bonnie searched through the house, as Damon searched the foot, backyard. She searched the downstairs first then the upstairs. Annoyed at finding nothing interesting so far.

Then she heard the sound of Damon's voice, muffled by the walls of the house, calling out from the outside. Bonnie went over to a window which overlooked the backyard and opened it to hear him better.

"Hey, out here" He echoed up to her from where he stood in the back yard.

"What is it, Damon." She leaned out of the window, looking down at him.

"Come on down, I think I might have found something." Damon returned.

With those words she turned and rushed out of the house. Going around to the backyard where he was. "Tell me what you found."

Damon waved a hand. "Over here."

She followed him to the edge of the woods, which lined the backyard. He lead her a few feet into the woods and then turned left.

"I may have discovered something interesting." Damon spoke.

All Bonnie could see before them was a bunch of bushes and medium sized trees. "Am I missing this something?"

"Camouflaged." Damon explained. Then he pushed aside some bushes with his hand to reveal a small white building, just coming out of the ground.

"A bunker." Bonnie recognized.

"A small one but yeah, a bunker." Damon confirmed.

"I would have missed if because of all of the foliage around it." Bonnie eyed it.

"Meaning a person wanted to keep it hidden on purpose. Why do that unless there was a reason for it." Damon expressed.

"Perhaps there is stuff of value or importance inside." Bonnie returned.

Damon gave her a nod. "Exactly."

She shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to see what is inside."

Agreeing with her he approached the door which went down to the bunker. He tested the handle, surprised to see it was unlocked. Opening it he stepped inside. The inside was dark, except for the dimming dusk light that filtered in through the entrance.

He turned on his flashlight to investigate the inside. The bunker was small, but still long enough and wide enough to support about four people being in it at one time. He scanned the place with his flashlight beam. On the right wall was a shelf which held some unlit candles and a few empty cups, coffee mugs.

On the left wall was two bunk beds. He guessed whoever built this bunker had done it sometime during or in the years after the apocalypse happened. As a shelter from the rest of the world. However his instinct told them that the person had left a while ago. Either by death or some other circumstance, leaving the bunker behind.

His light went over to the wall at the back of the bunker and what he saw instantly perked his mood up. "Oh, hell yeah!"

"Hell yeah? You saw some stuff?" Bonnie joined him in the bunker turning her flashlight on.

"Not just stuff food!" Damon pointed towards the back wall.

"Seriously?" Bonnie thought that it was too good to be true, wall at the same time getting her hopes up.

Damon grinned. "Very serious. MREs. You are MREs are."

Bonnie calmly finished. "I'm familiar with what MREs are."

Damon went on. "The kind that the military…...well the old United States military had back in the day."

She scanned her flashlight over the wall, where she saw a stack of boxes marked MRE. Did a happy dance inside at the discovery of food. While at the same time trying to keep herself contained. "How do you figure they ended up here?"

He guessed. "Most likely someone who was in the old military or had a old connection to it."

Bonnie added as her beam of light scanned over the items. "Whoever the person was left behind a case of water as well." She read that the water was a full twenty four pack of sixteen ounce bottles. And was just as glad about that discovery as she was with the food. They only had a couple of bottles of water left between them.

"Right, food, water. We've hit the jackpot." Damon let out a whoop of celebration.

"So, we have." Her lips curved in a near smile.

"There are a least thirty boxes of individual MRE meals from what I can tell. Enough to feed us for a few weeks. " Damon licked his lips in appreciation. "Let's not waste one more minute, we'll settle down here for the night and finally eat."

"Yeah, I'm all for doing that but…" Bonnie paused.

Damon glanced over at her, noticed her hesitation. "But? Are you not hungry."

Bonnie replied. "Obviously, I'm famished. However, what if this food and water belongs to someone, we should just take it."

"Are you kidding me, Bon-Bon. We gone days without food and you are worried about the morals of stealing." Damon snorted.

"Not that I'm worried about morals or stealing. It's just that with how I reacted towards you when you took my food, I don't want to come off as a hypocrite." Bonnie mentioned.

"You're an interesting character, Bonnie." Damon said as a compliment.

"It's a principle thing." Bonnie shrugged.

Damon rubbed at his loudly growling stomach. "I'm so starved that I could eat a horse, whoever left this here, left it unattended and doesn't seem to be anywhere around. You know that this is a brutal world."

Bonnie directed. "This is a brutal world, I'm well aware of that in how I have to fight to live everyday."

Damon said. "Right, and you need food to survive. Food which will give you the enegry to kickass like you do."

Bonnie couldn't help but chuckle at his statement.

"Besides, my gut feeling tells me we are the only people around here for miles. I doubt there is anyone else close by. Not the person who built this bunker and stacked it with the food. They honestly seem long gun." Damon commented.

"My instinct tells me that the person is long gun as well now that I think about it. I mean we would have ran into the person if they were still around. Like I did back in the other suburbs with those men who jumped me." Bonnie muttered.

"Hmmm, I wouldn't be shocked if the person who used to me here might have ran into those jerks, the two areas are close enough. They would have killed anyone else in the areas or ran them off, since that group seems to control it." Damon mentioned.

She shifted on her feet. "One of them named Billy Bob did say that he and his boys ran this area. Robbing any person which came through. That is why we whoever owned this bunker disappeared because Billy Bob's group might have killed them." Bonnie connected the dots.

Damon directed. "Which is bad luck for that person, but good luck for us. We managed to kill Billy Bob's group where they are no longer a threat , and these bunker was well hidden that they didn't find it. Thus leaving food behind for us."

Bonnie agreed. "Correct, I'm more than happy to take advantage of whatever good luck I can get."

"We wouldn't want this food to go to waste just sitting around now would we." Damon waited for her response.

"Hell no, we're not letting that food go to waste." Bonnie said and her empty stomach rumbled in agreement.

"Then let's settle in." Damon signaled.

"Let's get the eating!" Bonnie exclaimed.

So, the two of them settled down in the bunker, lighting the candles to light the bunker since it was getting darker and darker outside. Then they shut the bunker door, just to be extra safe in case there was any other unwanted company around. They kicked off their shoes, getting real comfortable and settled in for the night.

Searching through the boxes of MRE's, they saw that there was quite a variety of meals available them. Pasta with meatballs,chicken and rice,cheeseburger mac,sausage gumbo. Among a number of other different meals.

Getting creative, Damon filled the mugs with water, then used the flames from the largest candles to heat up the water just enough. Then used that water to heat the MRE meals they had chosen to eat as the instructions on the packets had told him to. Finally after days without food the two of them settled down to eat.

She had picked a salisbury steak, with mashed potatoes meal to eat and he had picked a beef stroganoff type of dished, which was served with noodles. And for a while they just ate and drink their meals in silence.

Then after a while Damon decided to start off a conversation. "How is that headache going, do you still have it."

"No, the painkillers got rid of it after I took a couple of doses." Bonnie let him know.

"Glad that you're feeling better then." Damon spoke.

She swallowed some mashed potatoes and nodded.

He ate a mouthful of food, followed it down with some water before he went on. "Why don't we stay here and relax for two or three days. We have food and water here, and beds to sleep in. How do you feel about that before we move on again?"

Bonnie thought about his suggestion. Saw that the bunker not only provided food, but a cozy, safe place to stay. Which a relief after she had ran into Billy Bob and his group trying to kill her. She figured that it could hurt to stay for a handful of days, it would take them a while to get to where they were going.

"Sure, we can rest here for a little bit, before we travel again." Bonnie went along with him.

"Then that is what we will do." Damon returned.

Maybe it was the fact that she was grateful to finally get some food into her stomach, after being hungry for days. Or maybe it was the days which had passed between her argument with him over belonging to the Militia, and maybe it was how he was currently being so friendly and gentle with her.

Perhaps it was a combination of all of those things. Whatever the reason, she found her feelings now softened and lightened towards him. Enough to where she wasn't as angry with him as she was before, even though she still wasn't pleased that he had basically lied to her. Her mood was lightened towards him enough where she could show him appreciation after all.

"You were right, you know." Bonnie stated.

"About?" Damon questioned.

"About saving my life back there." She gestured with her thumb. "You were correct about how I probably would have been dead from a stab wound if you hadn't came along."

Damon said in return. "You were correct too, you fought off those assholes long enough to save yourself."

Bonnie admitted. "Very true. Still they outnumbered me, overpowered me because of it. I think those jerks might have succeeded in killing me, if you didn't assist me in taking them out with your rifle. You completely saved my ass."

Damon looked at her with a serious expression. "Well, as I said I promised to have your back. Just as I promised to replace the food I took from you back in Arizona."

"And I'm happy you followed through with that promise." She ate a piece of salisbury steak to prove this.

"There's more of to come, trust me." Damon told her.

"Thank you for saving my ass, Damon" Bonnie looked him in his eyes as she said this.

This warmed him up on the inside. "You're more than welcome and for what it is worth, I'm really glad in my decision to follow you. I would have felt awful in more ways than one if you would have been killed."

"So, why did you decide to follow me?" Bonnie cocked her head to the side.

"You really want to know." Damon wondered.

"I really want to know. You seemed fine with just letting me go when we parted ways, I'm curious to know what changed your mind." Bonnie pressed.

He let out a breath. "I was so irritated by our confrontation that I was going to let you go. Then the right feelings and common sense thoughts took over me. I guess I didn't want to leave off our partnership in that way. I knew how angry you were with me, and didn't want to leave you with that lasting impression of me, I just decided to go and find you in order to make things right."

She said quietly. "A choice which ended up saving me."

He went on. "I really screwed it up, when I kept from you that I was a member of the Militia. I made the excuse that I didn't lie to you outright, however it doesn't change how I lied to you my omission. I should have revealed to you a lot sooner about where I was from, I apologize for betraying you and whatever trust you had in me. I'm sorry for not telling you the truth."

"I can accept your apology, even though I won't be pleased for a while that it was kept from me." Bonnie leaned forward slightly.

"I'll always be sorry for it, and it won't happen again." Damon meant this.

"It better not." Bonnie commented, although with a lighthearted tone.

Damon chuckled. "I won't keep anymore key secrets or important information from you. From now on I'll be open with you of anything of importance."

Bonnie wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'll hold you to that."

He paused before he gathered his next words. "And being open with you, I'll tell you that I kept being a Militia from you, because I was ashamed of the awful things that I did, the terrible people that the Militia is overall. Especially after you let your rightful loathing towards them be known. I was already ashamed of by past before I even ran into you."

"And I hated what I had done to innocent people, I wanted to get away from it, start on a new path in my life. Then you were the first person with actual compassion and a heart that I ran into. So, I kept the truth from you because I was afraid of being rejected and turned away."

"I believe you regret your past actions…..I judge everyone who belonged to the Militia under one umbrella, see them all as cruel, vicious and heartless people. Not just because of how they murdered by Father right in front of my eyes. It's also because personally it wasn't my last run in with one of them where I was hurt, without going into details I was again witnessed to the monsters that they are."

Bonnie went on with sincerity. "Plus I've witnessed the violence, slaughters that they have done to other people. So, my experience with the Militia has been all negative, which was why I reacted to you the way I did, when I found those dog tags. But, I'm willing to give you a chance to prove how you're different than the most of them."

Damon gave her a nod. "I appreciate it, you giving me a chance despite my past. It says a lot about the person that you are."

Her eyes scanned over the bunker, as the candles made their shadows bounce across the wall. "I figure you also had a point about me being a closed off person. It maybe a flaw, but it's also how I protect myself in this world. It's not something that I do with the intention of being mean or malicious towards a person."

"Most of the people who I ran into during my life, were in it for themselves and would stab me in the back to get the upperhand. I had a smuggling partner a few years ago, who double crossed me and took everything for herself, leaving me high and dry. From then on, I've decided that it was best if I keep everyone at a distance to avoid getting hurt or worse."

He whispered. "When you explain it like that, I can understand why you built a wall around you. Perhaps I judged you too harshly on being closed off."

Bonnie shook her head. "No, you had a point in a way. I still think the smart thing is to keep most people at a distance, but perhaps I could make an exception just for you. Just for you I can get with the concept of being friends."

"Exactly where I wanted this to lead to." Damon perked up. "Since we are going to be around each other for a while, making an attempt at friendship is the best."

"I could try, I don't know how good I will be at it though. I haven't really been close to a person, so I'm not familiar with how to be a friend." Bonnie rubbed at her arm.

"I'm more than willing to work with you on that. We could start with getting to know each other on more of a personal level. It doesn't have to be anything deep at first, just begin with the small stuff." Damon suggested.

"I can live with that." Bonnie gave a genuine half smile.

Damon offered his hand. "Then we have a deal in making a attempt at friendship."

Bonnie gave him a quick handshake. "We have a deal, Damon."

He smiled widely. "Then we will start with the small stuff and work our way from there. Actually I know that you found out my last name was Salvatore, but I've been with you slightly over a month now and I don't know your last name."

"Bennett." Bonnie let him know.

"Bennett?" Damon questioned to make sure.

"Bennett." She repeated. "Is my last name."

Damon returned. "Bonnie Bennett, what a lovely name."

She exclaimed. "Damn straight!"

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thank you for the support and the reviews on my last update. And thanks to the reviewer who gave me the advice. I went with Damon saving Bonnie's life, while at the same time not having Bonnie be completely helpless. Showing that she is tough and won't go down without a fight.**

 **I'm trying to build a relationship with these two where they have reliance on each other to survive, while each also has the skill to take care of themselves. But, them being strongest when they work together as a team. And will try to balance out this part as a way to develop their relationship as a whole.**

 **I hoped that you enjoyed this update. I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	7. Chapter 7

Once they had their stomachs full, they stayed up for a little while longer sharing small talk with each other. Then the both of them went to bed for the night, Damon slept in the top bunk and Bonnie slept in the bottom bunk. They slept solidly all through the night, until Bonnie woke up with the feeling of a full bladder. She opened her eyes to darkness, since they had blown out the candles when they went to sleep to decline their melting, because they had decided to rest at the bunker for a few days. And of course it was dark because of no electricity being on in the bunker.

So, Bonnie reached for her flashlight that she had placed next to her in the bed and turned it on, she aimed it at her watch to see what time it was and saw that it was just before eight o'clock in the morning despite it being dark in the bunker. With the urge to go to the bathroom really coming on. She swung her legs over the bed and got out. Using her flashlight to see her way to the door. She opened the door, was greeted with the bright morning sun shining outside.

She stepped outside and turned off her flashlight. Then made her way several yards away from the bunker, going behind some bushes she pulled down her pants and underwear. Squatting, she let out a sigh of relief as she peed what felt like a gallon of liquid. Once she was finished, she pulled back up her underwear, pants and was ready to start the day as she made her way back to the bunker.

She had left the door open and didn't shut it, so when she stepped back inside of the bunker, through the bright morning daylight she had seen Damon now awake and sitting up in his bunker.

Damon watched her as she came in. "Good morning, Bonnie."

Bonnie returned in a friendly tone. "Morning, Damon."

"I woke up and saw that you weren't here and that the door was open." Damon yawned.

"Oh, did I wake you?" Bonnie questioned.

"Not really, I was about to wake up either way." Damon replied. "So, where did you go just now."

She shrugged. "Just had to relieve myself."

He understood, there wasn't any bathroom in the bunker. He woke up in the middle of the night to relieve his own bladder and she hadn't even noticed because she was knocked out in her sleep for most of the night. Which told him that she must have been tired, but she appeared well rested this morning from her appearance. As the night's sleep had done her some good. It did him some good as well.

"I see. I guess we are both up for the rest of the day then." He ran a hand through his sleep tousled black mane of hair.

"Yeah, I got a good night's sleep and I'm ready to be up for the day." Bonnie confirmed.

"Alright then how about be start the day off with some breakfast." Damon suggested.

She got the hand sanitizer out of her bag, used it on her hands. "I'm all for that."

He added. "And how about some coffee as well, since it's include in the MRE's."

She nodded. "I could use coffee, been a while since I had it."

Damon said. "So, you're a coffee drinker."

"I have it when I can." Bonnie told him. "I love it, especially with cream and sugar."

"Me too. I consider myself a bit of a coffee addict." Damon let her know.

"Couldn't blame you, it's wonderful especially when it's grinded right down from coffee beans and then brewed fresh." Bonnie stated.

Damon eyed her. "You've had coffee made right from the beans?"

Bonnie answered. "Right from South America, where the coffee is the best."

Beginning to grab the items that he needed to make them their coffee, he was in disbelief. "You're kidding, right from South America."

"That's what I said." She moved over to the MRE's, going over the selection to see what she wanted to eat for that morning.

"No cars, for the most part. No airplanes. So, how in the world did you get coffee beans right from South America." He was taken aback by the thought.

"The guy I got it from had traveled on horseback from South America, through Central America. Then eventually made his way to the United States." Bonnie explained. "It took him years to do that, but he managed to keep the coffee beans in a tightly sealed pack."

He proceeded with making coffee for the both of them. "That's something else, truly."

She said. "Yep, me being a smuggler I made a deal with the guy. Got some trade for his coffee beans. And after I kept a supply for myself, I used the rest to trade for other items,foods and goods. People paid a nice price for those beans, since most of the only coffee left around is the instant stuff which had been made years ago."

Damon whistled. "Wish that I could had a chance to drink coffee right from the beans."

Bonnie put in. "The instant kind is not bad, actually instant coffee can be pretty good, especially when the other option is no coffee at all."

"Trust me, I'm not complaining. There is no such thing as being picky about your food or drinks in this world." Damon commented.

That was something that Bonnie agreed completely with him on. They moved onto preparing their breakfast with the MRE's that each of them picked out. There weren't any true breakfast types of food options among. But as Damon had said, not many people could be picky about food in the post apocalypse. And MRE's were one of the best meals that any person could get their hands on.

This time Damon had picked the chicken and rice dish, while Bonnie had went for the vegetable and lentil bean stew. They heated up their meals following the instructions on the MRE's and settled down to have breakfast, with their coffee that the MRE had provided.

They kept the door to the bunker open to allow the light in since it was such a nice day outside.

Damon spoke after a moment. "So, now that we have agreed to a friendship, why don't we move on to the steps of getting to know each other."

"Like what?" Bonnie sampled the cracker, which had come with her stew. It wasn't bad.

"Nothing too deep just yet if you don't feel comfortable going there. You know just the small stuff." Damon hinted.

"That's fine with me for a start." Bonnie agreed.

His lips curved. "You don't mind me asking you some personal questions then."

She directed. "Depending on what they are, no I don't mind you asking me some personal questions."

He studied her closely. "Where are you from?"

"Washington." Bonnie took the time to sample some of her coffee.

"D.C." Damon figured.

"No, the state of Washington. Just outside of Seattle." Bonnie corrected.

"Don't think that I've even visited the state of Washington." Damon commented.

"It's a beautiful place to live in." Bonnie remembered the scenery of the state.

Taking the time to savor the coffee, and it's warm caffeine flavor, he went on. "I assume that you haven't visited the East Coast."

Wiping her mouth before speaking she said. "Nope, this is in fact the furthest East that I have been."

He stated, "The furthest that I have been east was Colorado, when I had to go there on some mission with the Militia."

"Yeah, I've spent all of my life on the West Coast really. Stayed in Washington until my Dad passed away. Then I had to start traveling elsewhere, to look for the best places to survive." Bonnie recalled.

"On your own without any help?" Damon wondered.

"On my own." Bonnie replied.

Damon smirked. "With a tough woman like you, I guess it shouldn't surprise me."

"Not at all." She gave him a smirk of her own. "Now how about telling me where you are from."

"South California." Damon mentioned.

"Another beautiful place to live in." Bonnie commented.

He nodded in agreement.

She ate a handful more of her food.

Damon paused. "I know about what happened to your dad…...but what about your Mother."

Feeling more relaxed around him, she had no problems telling him this. "She passed away too, so both of my parents are dead."

"Wait, did she get murdered by the Militia as well?" Damon frowned.

"Nah, she died right after she gave birth to me. I never even got to see her alive." Bonnie shook her head.

"She did? Did you find out why exactly." Damon put in with sensitivity to the subject.

"I don't know exactly, just know that it was from some sort of medical complication which had resulted from her being pregnant with me. Probably something that could have been fixed, cured if she had found the right doctor. But, medical infrastructure had been severely damaged by the massive storms and destruction weather disasters. And most of the medical advances that were made were lost or wiped out on a large scale."

Bonnie finished off soberly. "So, a few hours after she gave birth she wasn't able to get the medical attention that she needed and died. Leaving it up to my father to care for and raise me."

Damon felt empathy for her. "Sorry to learn about your mother passing like that."

She expressed in a quiet verbal way. "It's okay, I mean I would have loved to have her alive. But, I take comfort in the fact knowing she loved me during the time in which she was carrying me for nine months."

He just looked on and said nothing.

"She had given me a letter explaining how much she had loved me in a letter."

Bonnie still took the letter with her everywhere that she went. Because it had meant so much to her. And she read the letter so much that it she knew it by heart.

 _Dear Bonnie._

 _Yes, Bonnie is what your Dad and I decided to call you. We came up with the name even before you were born. I'm writing this as you are growing inside of me still, along about seven months now with you. I'm writing you this because I'm having some difficulty with my pregnancy and I'm not sure if I will be alive to see you._

 _So, it's important to get this message to you. Honestly to tell you the truth when I first discovered I was pregnant with you. I was hesitate and doubtful. Not because it had anything with not wanting a baby or wanting to reject you. I was doubtful because I was afraid of giving birth to a child, bringing a baby into the harsh environment the world has become and exposing the child to the dangers, horrors of it._

 _However, the more that I carried you, the more that I loved and became attached to you, even without seeing you yet. I realize babies like you are the future of our world, one which will prevent the extinction of mankind. And bring in hope for the future, even though the worse that the human race has to offer. I know that you will be part of the best of what humanity has to offer._

 _Listen to me when I ask for you to live your life to the fullest and to fight everyday to survive. I just know that you will grow up to make me proud, even if I die. I know that you'll accomplish all that this world has left to offer. And always know that whether in life or death I will always cherish you as by daughter._

 _Love from your Mom Abby."_

The words in those letters stuck with her and always would. She didn't know how Abby had known she would have a girl, Perhaps it was a woman's intuition. Or the baby-mother connection even if the womb. But, because of the letter, Bonnie had loved her Mom just as much as she had her Dad. Even though she never got the chance to see her Mom.

"Her message to me, her dying to give me life, is part of the reason why I fight so hard to survive each day." Bonnie whispered.

"Sounds like your mother cared about you for as long as she was alive." Damon grabbed at the small pack of trail mix, which was included in his breakfast MRE meal. "Unfortunately can't say the same for my Mother."

Bonnie leaned forward. "What do you mean by that."

Damon chewed on the mix of nuts and raisins. "Never got to see my Mother either. The difference with me is that she lived and abandoned me at birth."

Bonnie repeated. "Abandoned you at birth, how do you know of this."

"I was told, once I was born and out of the womb, she put me into a dumpster as a newborn, to fend for myself. Apparently she couldn't be bothered with me, and was eager to get rid of me. Didn't want a baby around holding down her life I guess." Damon had an unpleasant expression on his face now.

"Are you one hundred percent sure that this is true?" This time Bonnie frowned.

Damon shrugged. "Haven't been otherwise proven to be untrue. So, I take it as a fact that she abandoned me when I was a newborn. I haven't seen her in all of life, I mean if she didn't do it, I would think she would have sought me out, but she hasn't. She just left me behind to go and live her life wherever."

Bonnie felt anger towards this woman, whoever it was did a terrible and cowardly thing to what was an innocent newborn Damon. "Sounds like a shitty human being and an even worse mother."

Damon brooded. "Same here. I wanted to meet her for the longest time just to ask her why she abandoned me and to confront her with how shitty of a Mother that she was. Not that she would care, but I wanted to give her as piece of my mind."

"As you should, it's too bad she couldn't face the consequences of being an awful parent." Bonnie mumbled.

"Yeah, if she didn't abandon me then I wouldn't have been adopted." He air quoted. "Into the Militia. I was found in the dumpster by the Militia and therefore raised into the life since I was small. Because of her the Militia life is all that I knew."

"I hate you had to go through so a ordeal." Bonnie said with sincere sympathy.

Damon noticed how the mood in the room had lowered and become more depressing because of him bringing up the subject of his mother. He didn't intend to lower the mood, it was just a sore spot in his life which he got off of his chest. And he never even talked much about it until with Bonnie just now.

Because his mother's abandonment always soured his mood and made him feel bitter, he desired not to linger on it any longer. And wanted to change the subject. "Ah, who needs her anyway. I'm better off without her."

"Right." Bonnie muttered.

"Hey, let's discuss something lighter." Damon waved a hand as if to brush the subject to the side.

"Alright." Bonnie went, but she still thought that it was messed up what his mother did to him. And could see that it bothered him even more than he let on. Because of it, she felt sorry for him.

Pushing what happened to him as a newborn out of his mind, he pressed on with the next question. "So, what are your hobbies. What do you do for fun."

She thought about the question before she spoke. "Hmmmm, I would say my number one hobby would be photography."

Damon was honestly interested. "You liked to take pictures."

"I did." Bonnie confirmed.

"What camera did you use?" Damon asked of curiosity.

"It wasn't any types of fancy camera on anything." Bonnie stated. "Just some of those disposable cameras. I would go around all day taking pictures of different things. And when the camera was full they were developed. My dad saw that I loved taking photographs. So he built a shed in our backyard. A shed which he set up a photo developing shop just for me. He would take the film my disposable camera and would develop them in the shed for me. I was excited to see how the pictures came out each time."

"Sounds like you had one hell of a dad." Damon complimented.

Bonnie smiled. "Yeah, he was a wonderful father, did everything that he could to assure I had the best childhood I could possibly have under the circumstances of this world."

This made Damon think about his own biological father and how he had never known him either.

"I love photography so much that if the apocalypse never happened and the world was still normal, I would make a career out of taking photographs." Bonnie sighed.

"It would have been nice if we could have made money from doing something that we loved." Damon mentioned.

"Yes, it would have been." She fully agreed.

He pressed his lips together. "If I could have made a career out of something, then it would be a rock star."

She cocked her head to the side. "Seriously?"

Damon nodded. "I used to have a guitar which I played on all of the time, I loved that guitar, it really helped me cope through the troubling times. I would play it and sing my own songs and everything. I sure do much it since I don't have it around anymore."

Now it was her turn to be curious. "Are you any good at singing?"

"I'm awesome at playing the guitar." Damon grinned.

"Not what I asked you." Bonnie raised a brow.

"Don't know how good at singing I am." Damon shrugged.

Bonnie returned. "Well, you said that you wanted to be a rock star. So, I assume you would know how well you are at singing."

Damon took his last sip of coffee. "I would become a rock star if I could, still I don't know how great of a singer I am, know one has really ever told me."

"I could be the judge of that." Bonnie offered.

"You want me to sing for you." Damon blinked.

"Obviously." Bonnie said.

After giving it a thought. "Nah.

She put her now finished meal to the side. "Why not?"

"Could be awful, I wouldn't want to hurt your ears or anything." Damon joked.

"You could also be an excellent singer." Bonnie countered in a friendly way.

"Not going to sing for you." Damon smirked.

Bonnie challenged. "You're going to sing for me one day, Damon Salvatore."

Damon snorted. "You wish."

This earned a slight laugh from Bonnie.

"Since I lost my guitar, I took my time up with reading to entertain myself." Damon added.

"You read, like actual books?" Bonnie was taken aback by this.

"I read actual books and I enjoy them very much." Damon mumbled.

"Wow, didn't take you as the reading type." Bonnie was amused.

He furrowed his brow. "Hey, what do you mean by that."

She raised up her hands. "Trust me, it's not meant to be an insult. Just surprises me that a man such as yourself enjoys reading, that's all."

He playfully pointed in the air. "Well, I do enjoy reading so you don't have to be so astonished Bon-Bon."

"Okay, Okay." Bonnie put in. "I like to read books too."

"Then that is something that you and I have in common." Damon remarked.

"It is." Bonnie agreed.

Damon went. "Perhaps we will find some books to read on our journey to entertain ourselves."

Bonnie nodded. "Hopefully, we will."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They moved on from the bunker and took all of the MRE's and the remaining bottles of water with them as they traveled. Then for the next three and a half, nearly four weeks they made their slow and steady way on foot across the state of New Mexico. Until they were now at a point which they were a few more weeks away from making it to the Texas border, from their calculations at the rate in which they were walking.

As they spent nearly four weeks making their way across New Mexico, they had made grand process in their relationship and had built a solid foundation to their friendships. And now as friends were getting to know the small things about each other, as each day past. It was to the point where Damon was enjoying having her as his friend and Bonnie was appreciating him, glad that he was in her company, so far from how she felt about him when they first met. She didn't just view him as a business partner now, but as a friend who aided her in her quest for survival.

When they had made their way across the state, they had went through some towns, and what used to be some highly populated areas. Then there were stretches where they went through large areas of wilderness and woods. During each day, they would each eat two MRE's between the both of them, instead of eating three a day. They decided to go to two, to try and preserve the MRE's for as long as they could. Still the MRE's were getting less each day and they knew that soon they would have to search for food again.

One time during the weeks they had traveled, they had came up upon a town. Or what used to be a town. They could only tell that it was a town from the sign which had said so. But, once they entered, all they saw was piles of destruction and ruin. Rubble, wood, metal, and pieces of structure laid all over the place and had crowded the landscape. For miles and miles there had been nothing but what was former buildings and houses laid to ruin in rubble.

It wasn't hard to tell that this town had been part of the casualties of the machine that had gone haywire. And some massive storm had spent through and claimed the town. They both figured that the death on that town must have been high. There were many towns and cities like it across the world, where weather disasters had completely destroyed all that there was. The towns and cities which were left standing, were simply there by luck.

Currently they were in a rural area of eastern New Mexico. Where buildings lined a narrow road, on both sides, with overgrown lawns of weeds and grass.

"Man, it's like a ghost town here." Damon observed looking around.

"It's a ghost town just about everywhere we go." Bonnie pointed out.

Damon said. "True."

Then he heard some rustling in one of the yards which had overgrown grass, however couldn't see what had caused it.

"What is that?" Damon asked out loud.

"What is what?" Bonnie's eyes scanned the area.

"That noise." Damon hinted.

She shifted on her feet. "I don't hear anything."

He gestured. "Just to the right in the yard right ahead of us."

Cupping her ear, Bonnie tried to listen closer and sure enough she heard the rustling in the woods, which sounded like something or someone moving around.

The noise moved closer to them, as it was footsteps pushing through the weeds and grass. "Crap, we might not be alone after all." Alarmed and on edge he started to reach for his revolver.

Bonnie watched on trying to get a sight of what was causing the noise.

Damon got out his revolver. "Whoever you are, you better come out or I'll shoot you."

Less than a minute later three dogs came out, they barked looking over in the direction of the pair of humans before running off with each other to the left.

"Congrats, you got spooked by a bunch of wild dogs." Bonnie snorted.

"Hey, you know that you can't be on your guard too much." Damon put his revolver away.

"Chill dude, I was just messing with you, isn't that what friends do they kid around with each other." Bonnie's lips curved.

He blew out on a half laugh. "Friends kid around with each other indeed."

The two of them continued on through the area, until Damon stopped in his tracks. He kneeled down and began digging at the dirt with his hands.

Bonnie placed her hands on her hips. "Just what are you doing?"

Damon told her. "I think that I saw something useful to use under the dirt."

She stood there and watched him dig, wondering what in the world he had seen.

He kept digging through the dirt with his bare hands, until he got what he was looking for. "There it is."

"What did you find?" Bonnie moved closer to him to see.

"I got these." Damon stood to his feet. "They look like potatoes, don't they."

Bonnie viewed the handful of what he had. "They are potatoes."

Damon viewed them in his hand, they were small about the size of a golf ball, however he had a handful about ten of them. "Wild potatoes."

"S. jamessi to be exact." Bonnie confirmed.

"S, what." Damon was perplexed.

"S. jamessi, They are quite common in this area in the west, the most abundant type of wild potatoes that you will find in this parts." Bonnie explained.

"How do you know this." Damon shuffled them around in his hand.

Bonnie gestured. "I learned to forage for food in the forest a long time ago, so I know all about the wild roots, vegetables, and plants that a person can eat."

Damon went on hopefully. "So, you're telling me these are edible."

Bonnie commented. "Very edible."

He blew out a breath. "Perfect just what he need, since we ate our last MRE's a couple of days back. We should build a fire, roast them and eat them up."

She said. "I'm with you on that, let's see if there is another thing we can find to eat out here before you roast those potatoes."

Even though he was hungry, Damon was willing to be patient. "Fine, I'll wait."

Bonnie approached a thin line of trees, about four rows deep. As Damon followed her. She scanned the area looking for more food to forage. That was when she discovered something which was a better source of food than any wild plant could offer.

She stopped suddenly in her tracks, making him almost run into the back of her.

Damon grunted verbally about why she had stopped so suddenly.

Bonnie put a hand to her lips. "Quiet you or you'll scare it off."

He had no clue what she was talking about at first.

Carefully not to make any noise, Bonnie reached back and grabbed her bow, which had been strapped to her bag pack. Her eyes remained ahead.

It took him a while to see what she had seen, because it was camouflaged by the ground surrounding it, but he followed her gaze and spotted a large rabbit who was sniffing the ground.

It appeared the rabbit had no idea of their presence. She moved behind a tree to make sure that the rabbit couldn't see her if it looked up, gestured behind her back for Damon to do the same.

Seeing that she was clearly about to attempt to shot the rabbit, he followed her lead and moved behind her and the tree. Watching closely to see her hunting in action, cheering her on in his mind she would be successful at it.

Reaching for an arrow, she put the arrow in the bow, then placed the arrow into a shooting position by pulling back on the string of the bow. She leaned halfway out just to be able to get a clear view of the rabbit. Aiming at her target, she took a moment to make sure that her aim was on center then she released the arrow.

The arrow flew through the air so quickly, it had made a whistling noise. Then the arrow hit the rabbit dead center in the neck, right at where she was aiming at. The rabbit instantly died.

"Finally, I find something to hunt. And I've just added something more substantial to all next meal." Bonnie pumped a fist in the air proud of herself.

"Whoa, don't think that I've ever seen someone so accurate with a bow and arrow before." Damon tweeted.

"I've had tons of practice in hunting." She hooked her bow back to where it was.

"I can tell." Damon bulked at the now dead rabbit.

Bonnie took steps towards the rabbit.

Damon followed her, the grass and leaves crunching under his boots.

She picked up the rabbit and removed the arrow from its body. She wiped the blood off of the arrow with her rag, then placed the arrow back in the stock where she had her other arrows. The arrow was still useable and piece of weapon that she could keep couldn't afford to be wasted.

"Do you have a taste for rabbit?" She held up the animal in the air.

Damon showed his teeth. "I have a taste for any kind of meat I can put into my mouth."

"Then we'll both eat fine off of this one, it's a pretty big sucker, almost big enough to feed three people." Bonnie observed.

"One of the biggest I have ever seen." Damon eyed the deceased animal in her hand.

"Why don't you build that fire, I'll start to prepare this sucker for cooking." Bonnie suggested.

Damon accepted. "I'll get right on that."

They moved into a clearing so that they would be able to build a fire. Damon gathered twigs, sticks, and dried grass so that he would be able to build a fire.

Bonnie found a stomp to use for which she would prepare rabbit on. Preparing it meant skinning and gutting it. Another area which Bonnie had experience in due to her hunting.

As he put the twigs, sticks, and dry grass into a pile, he said this. "I'll say it once again, I'm not used to being around a woman who hunts."

"And again why is that?" She got her knife and started to skin the rabbit.

"Just how the permanent camp base that I lived at went." Damon explained. "The Militia, at least the group that I belonged to left all of the hunting and the heavy duty stuff to the men."

Bonnie skillfully separated the skin from the flesh with her knife. "Exactly what did the women in your Militia camp do?"

Damon worked on sparking a fire from the pile he had made. "They stayed in the camp. You know did the job of cooking, cleaning and washing laundry for the men."

Bonnie pursed her lips together. "That's like old fashioned regression right there. Like going all the way back to the early 1900's before women had the right to choose a life for herself and not a man."

After a couple of minutes, he had success and the fire was lit. "Yeah, why the leader of the camp believed in a women should stay in kitchen, just cook and clean. Be submissive and always do what a man tells her to do. And that women are placed on the planet to serve the needs of men."

"So, the Mitila is a bunch of misogynistic assholes, doesn't surprise me." Bonnie gruffed.

"They are sexist. It was one of their rules which I never agreed on." Damon retrieved a pan from his bag. "To tell you the truth, I'm not into their idea of an old fashioned woman. I much prefer the modern day one, who is kickass and can take care of and stand up for herself. And doesn't take shit from any person, yet still maintains everything that makes her a woman. A modern woman such as yourself."

"Trying to earn more brownie points from me are you, Salvatore." Bonnie directed with a laughing tone to her voice.

A twinkle came to his icy blue eyes. "Well, it's the truth, Bennett. You've exposed me to all of the qualities of a woman that I never got to see before."

She exclaimed. "You're right I am a badass modern day woman aren't I!"

He chuckled. "Damn right you are!"

Once the skin was removed from the rabbit, she cut it down the middle of the belly to removed it guts and inner organs.

Damon had started to work on cleaning off the dust from the skin of the potatoes, but paused to watch her do the bloody, messy task of preparing the rabbit.

"What?" She took notice of this.

"A chick I once knew would freak completely out at just the idea of doing what you are doing right now." Damon commented.

"Let me guess, this chick was part of your camp." Bonnie commented.

"Yes, her name was Krystal with a K." Damon explained.

She raised both eyebrows. "Krystal with a K?"

He moved to the task of chopping up the potatoes with his own knife. "You know because Crystal is spelled with a C to a lot of people, so she was called Krystal with a K."

Without even a finch, Bonnie removed the organs from inside of the rabbit with her bare hands and tossed them several feet away from her. "So, who was Krystal with a K to you."

"She was a chick that I had relations with." Damon stated.

"Relations, as you were in love with her." Bonnie assumed.

"No, No. It wasn't like that. We weren't serious, it was just a relationship between the two of us having some good sex." Damon smirked.

Bonnie rolled her emerald green eyes. "Of course it would have been."

As he finished chopping up the potatoes, he looked over at her. "Although near the end, Krystal wanted it to be something more serious. And told me that she had romantic feelings for me and wanted marriage and kids for us."

The Bennett woman had finished preparing the rabbit, however her hands were bloody. To fix this she used water to rinse her hands off, then more water along with soap to make sure that they were clean. Then when her hands were clean of the blood from the rabbit, she used hand sanitizer to kill any germs which might have been left.

"And your response to her was?" Bonnie wondered.

"I told her that she was a nice woman, I respected her in a way. But, we started out agreeing to a mutual relationship of just sex, and is stayed that way for me, even though she had developed serious feelings for me." Damon added. "I told her I didn't feel the same way about her, then to be fair to her I ended the deal of just sex, just so not to lead her on anymore. I honestly felt bad if she was hurt, and apologized to her for it. But, I stopped the sex right there because I wasn't feeling her like that."

Bonnie took the now prepared rabbit over to where Damon and the fire was, she placed the rabbit into the pan.

Damon added some water to the pan for the rabbit to cook in. "Wait, you're not going to lecture me on what I jerk I was."

"Why would I do that?" Bonnie glanced at him.

"Because some might say I was, for breaking it off with a chick that had feelings for me." He put the potatoes in the pan and put the pan over the fire.

"Well, I wouldn't say you breaking it off with Krystal was a jerk move. If anything it was better than you leading her on, just for the sake of sparing her feelings. In the end it wouldn't have done either you or her any favors." Bonnie shrugged.

"That what I was thinking." Damon agreed.

All of the food from the MRE's was gone, but Bonnie kept something from them. She had kept the salt and pepper packets that came with them. Because she figured they may come in handy in some point and she was correct. What a better way to use them than to season the rabbit, potatoes a they cooked. So, she opened the packets and sprinkled a few over their soon to be shared meal.

Since he knew that it would take at least an hour for an animal of that size to cook over the fire, he figured it might not hurt to ask Bonnie some questions that he was curious about.

"We discussed some of my romantic life what about yours?" Damon asked.

"Huh?" Bonnie asked from the position where she sat next to him on the ground.

"You heard me, why don't you tell me about your romantic life." Damon was amused.

"Why do you want to discuss my romantic life?" Bonnie returned.

He wiped his hands on his pants. "Because it's only fair since we talked some about mine."

She opened her mouth. "I…" Then said nothing else.

He pointed. "Come on, it's only fair, this is a friendship between us right."

Bonnie couldn't find a reason to counter that. "Fine, what do you want to know."

"Did you have a boyfriend?" Damon wanted to know.

"Nope." Bonnie answered quickly.

"Really, never a guy which you were in a close romantic relationship with." Damon rubbed at his beard.

Bonnie repeated. "Nope, I was never in a close romantic relationship with any man."

Damon gave her a mischievous expression. "Was there a _girl_ that you had a close romantic relationship with?"

Bonnie let out a dramatic breath. "For real, Damon?"

"What did I say?" Damon pretended in a innocent tone.

"Why do you men have this fetish with lesbian relationships." Bonnie inquired with amusement.

"Because it's hot when two women go at it." Damon stated.

She playfully punched him in the shoulder. "No, it's just weird when men like you think in such a way."

He pressed on. "So, did you have a girlfriend."

Bonnie directed. "I had neither a boyfriend or a girlfriend. I wasn't in a close romantic relationship with any person. You already know that I haven't gotten into close personal relationships with people, it wasn't something that I was for until now."

"True, you did let that be known." Damon went on. "What about sexual relations then."

"Oh my god." Bonnie scoffed.

"You don't have to be close or have personal feelings with someone in order to have sex with them." Damon pointed out.

She ran a hand through her hair. "A very true statement."

He questioned. "Were you ever with someone to get your rocks off."

She was taken aback by his boldness But, knew that he was mentioning it to be playful and messing around with her. "I can't believe you at this moment."

Damon gave her his signature smirk. "Were human beings of a sexual nature after all, especially myself. So, I would be the last to judge you if you told me you've gotten your itch scratched."

"Now, that's one question from you, which you won't be receiving an answer from me." Bonnie returned.

"Come on Bon Bon, we're friends here. There is no shame in sharing such details with me." Damon teased.

"Sorry, not going to happen." Bonnie went in a joking manner.

Damon returned. "You are to tell me one day, you do know that."

Bonnie exclaimed. "You wish!"

Damon laughed. "Ha!"

And from this moment on the both of them knew for a fact that their friendship would continue to grow.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thank you to those who are still reading and supporting this story. I hope that you have enjoyed this update! Keep leaving me feedback.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	8. Chapter 8

After a couple of more weeks of foot travel the two of them had crossed the border of New Mexico. And currently they were in the Texas city of Midland, which was a few miles away from the New Mexico border. Now that they were in Texas they figured that it would take them a long while to get across the large state on feet, however they were up to the task.

Midland just like everywhere else had been nearly completely taken over by mother nature, since human beings had went away from the city decades ago. Grass, leafy vines, shrubs, trees, plants, and flowers had overgrown the concrete and all of the buildings in the city. Making it look more like a forest than something mankind had build up. And as they traveled walked through the city they even spotted some wild animals such a deer through the area.

They shared words as they walked through this city of how they both were in agreement that it was mother nature's karma in a way. For the longest time many human beings had been careless, reckless with how they treated the earth and the nature that she provided. How humans had hunted down some animals driving them into extinction or putting them on the endangered list. How their pollution had threatened to cause severe climate change and global warming, which would end up threatening the lives of all those on earth.

The last straw had been the building of the machine in which humans back then thought that they could control the weather of the planet. And that machine ended up causing the destruction that lead to the apocalypse. But, now that most of humans had been wiped out, mother nature had rebounded and reclaimed the planet. The weather patterns had returned to normal. And the species of many animal populations had went up in the last thirty years. If anything if proved to both Damon and Bonnie how mother nature could move on and thrive without mankind around. But, that mankind wouldn't stand a chance at survival without planet earth and all that it provided around.

They were just at the start of the Western parts of Midland as they made their way through. They passed by an newspaper display which had a newspaper in it whose headlines were all about the chaos and the destruction that the weather and storms were causing at the time. The paper had been dated during late August 2017. From what her father had told her, the weather had started going haywire in Mid July 2017 and lasted all the way up to March 2018 before the machine was finally destroyed. Months and Months in a row where man never would be able to recover from what happened.

In the present time they were in the late Spring of 2047 on the verge of Summer arriving. Soon they entered into a Barnes and Noble that had half of its roof missing. Still the other half of the store was remained standing and they could see books stacked up across the shelves. As well as a Starbucks stand which had been a part of the store. Damon approached the Starbucks stand and he out of curiousity read over the menu board, with the different coffee drinks that had been offered. He noticed an advertisement sign which was boasting about caramel lattes, which made his coffee lover self's mouth water as he wondered how it had tasted. Coffee drinkers who lived back then had it pretty good he thought.

"You know it's kind of sad." Bonnie spoke breaking into his thoughts.

He turned to face her. "What's kind of sad?"

She made her way through the suspense book section, "All of these books around here, written by all of those authors and no one around to read them anymore."

Damon commented. "While I agree that no one being able to read these books is sad, there is a way we could fix that at least somewhat."

"Oh, yeah. How is that?" Bonnie wondered.

"You and I can look through here and take some books to read. We both love reading don't we." Damon suggested

"We do." Bonnie agreed.

Damon gestured. "Let's search through these books, perhaps we will both find something entertaining to read."

Bonnie said. "You're right, a few books to read will help us pass the time as we travel along the way."

So on that agreement the two of them searched through the bookstore, each selecting a few books, placing them in their bags to take with them on their travels.

After they were finished with the bookstore, they continued to make their way further inside of the city. Doing their usual routine of searching for supplies and food. When they reached the middle part of the city, Damon discovered a building which was useful to them. There wasn't food or supplies inside, however the continents of it were still useful.

"Hey, Bonnie over here." Damon called out.

"Yes, Damon?" Bonnie returned from the other side of the narrow street that they were on.

"Check this out." Damon jerked his thumb.

Bonnie jogged over to check out what he had seen. She peeped inside of the building. "Clothes, you found a clothing store."

Damon popped the p. "Yep."

"Useful." She said with a nod.

"Very, I could seriously use a new change of wardrobe right now." Damon commented.

Since he had brought it up, Bonnie had remembered that she hadn't had changed her clothes in a while as well. Not since she had left with Damon all the way back in Arizona to start their journey. She was limited to what she could carry in her bag and clothes weren't as important of a priority as food, water, and supplies were. She had washed up when she could along the way, whenever they came up on a water source which provided enough water for bathing.

But had to put back on the same clothes, so them finding this store filled with clothes was very useful and timely.

"Yeah, I could use a change to mine as well." Bonnie mumbled.

"Let's go shopping for clothes, it will be fun!" Damon exclaimed.

"Shopping, just without actually paying for the clothes with money." Bonnie snorted.

Damon joked. "A five finger discount then."

Bonnie smirked. "Is that what we are calling it."

Damon shrugged. "Getting a new wardrobe for free will make this even funnier."

"True, the clothes are just sitting there, who is going to be around to stop us." Bonnie said in a easy going tone.

"Not a damn person." Damon played in with a dramatic look around the area.

She chuckled.

Then they proceeded to go into the store to get them a change of clothes. Because the men's and women's clothings sections were in different areas of the store, they had to briefly separate. As she went into the women's section to look for her clothes. Damon went into the men's section to search for his.

He used his flashlight to see through the extra dark areas in the store, where the daylight outside couldn't reach. After a few moments of searching he found himself a pair of black jeans, then a dark blue shirt. Once he had that, he kept looking and came up on a leather jacket which had caught his eye.

He ran his hand over the jacket and could tell that it was real leather from how it felt. He looked at the price tag and saw the price. Whistled at how expensive it was and smirked to himself for the fact that he didn't have to pay for it.

He was too caught up in checking out the leather jacket, that combined with how darkened it was in the area that he was in, he didn't realize that there was someone else in the store besides him and Bonnie. Not until someone snuck up behind him and out of nowhere and wrapped a rope around his neck. Whoever it was began choking Damon from behind with extreme force.

Immediately Damon began to struggle with the person, at first trying to fight off the attack and get the person off of him. But, whoever it was held leverage on him due to the fact that he had Damon in a tight gripped choked hold, as well appeared to be taller than Damon from the angle that the rope was choking him at. Damon choked and tried to get free. He tried pulling the rope from around his neck, but this only caused the person to tighten the rope around his neck.

Damon wheezed as his air supply started to get severely cut off. He then attempted to back up into something, in hopes that if he slammed his attacker backwards into an object that it would cause his attacker to loosen his grip and allow him to get free. Damon did this and rammed his attacker into a large rack of clothes, causing the rack to fall over with a loud crash. But, his attacker didn't let up and seemed to be determined to straggle Damon to death.

Now Damon was finding it very hard to breath, his vision was getting blurry and he was moments away from passing out.

Just as she had finished collecting a fresh pair of bra and panties. And had picked out a new shirt and pants for herself, Bonnie had heard the commotion. She rushed out of the women's section and into the men's where she saw a man who was a few feet taller than Damon choking him from behind with a rope. Damon's face had turned red and purple from the lack of air his lungs were receiving and he looked like he was about to pass out.

Immediately seeing that her friend's life was in danger. Bonnie reached back and quickly grabbed onto her bow and arrow, she loaded it and stepped up with her arrow drawn on her brow. She aimed it at the man who was choking Damon with a rope.

"Release him right now." Bonnie demanded with a deadly tone.

In response the man shook his head in refusal and continued to choke Damon.

Without giving the man another warning, she shot her arrow at him. The arrow hit him dead in the center between his eyes. This made him immediately release his grip on Damon's neck as the man fell to the ground dead.

Finally free Damon fell to his hands and knees, removing the rope from his neck, gasping and sucking in air into his lungs.

"Damon…" Bonnie looked over him in concern.

Damon held up a finger to pause her response as he regained his breath. Then once he had it back he said. "I'm alright, I'm fine."

Bonnie gave a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, where in the hell did that bastard come from."

"I have no clue." Damon looked back at the dead corpse which had Bonnie's arrow sticking out of his forehead. "He may have been in here with us the whole time I wasn't paying attention."

"Looks like he was a hunter." Bonnie shined her flashlight over the tattoo on the man's hand, which was a common tattoo that hunters. Hunters were another post apocalypse group much like bandits. Except they were more violent and hunted people down always killing them for their belongings. Hence the nickname, even while some bandits were violent. Such as Billy Bob and his crew.

There was still cases where some bandits just robbed people and left them alive. The hunters always had a kill and steal mentality.

"Guess we aren't alone in this city after all." Damon mumbled.

"It appears that we aren't." Bonnie said.

"Can't believe I was so caught off guard, this asshole nearly choked me to death." Damon rubbed at his neck.

"Hey, it shit happens to the best of us." Bonnie recalled as she had been caught off guard by Billy Bob.

Damon looked up at her from where he was still on the ground. "Thanks for saving my ass, I surely would have been a goner without you."

Bonnie held out a hand, with a half smile on her face. "Consider it a return of the favor when you saved mine."

He took the hand that she offered and pulled himself to his feet. "It's what we do have each other's backs."

"Correct. Let's move onto the next spot." Bonnie picked up the clothes, bra and panties which she had dropped to get a hold of her bow and arrow.

Damon put the jeans and shirt he had gotten under his arm. "Wait just a second, we can't leave just yet."

Bonnie faced him. "Why is something wrong?"

Damon replied. "Nothing really wrong, I just need to grab leather jacket real quick."

"Seriously." Bonnie arched a brow.

"It's really nice, made out of real leather." Damon pulled the jacket from it's hanger. "I just have to carry it with me."

"Of course." Bonnie stated amused.

"You know finding this jacket has made my day, I'm super pumped right now." Damon grinned.

Bonnie was in disbelief. "You just almost got strangled to death moments ago and you're here saying that a simple leather jacket has made your day."

Damon took the moment to put on the leather jacket. "Yeah, free clothes and an awesome leather jacket makes getting nearly choked not so bad, especially because I'm still alive."

Bonnie just had to chuckle. "You are truly something else, Damon."

He winked. "I know."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

A few hours later and it was late evening as they made their way more around Midland. They knew that they wouldn't make it out of the city before nightfall came, so they had decided to pick somewhere within the city to spend the night.

However, before they did that they wanted to do more exploring first. They were in the business section of the city, walking through and sharing small talk with each other. Then something suddenly happened to bring their conversation to a halt.

And that something was the fact that they now had red laser beams pointed at their torsos. Laser guns which belonged to the people who was aiming at them and it was obvious that the people meant them ill will.

"Watch out!" The both of them said in unison.

The pair ducked just in time enough for bullets to start rushing at them, zooming by them and missing their heads by just inches. They quickly moved behind a large dumpster as cover from the bullets which were constantly being shot at them.

They were kneeling on the ground next to each other, out of sight of the people who were shooting at them.

"Damn it, it looks like this city is more occupied with people than what we originally thought." Damon cursed.

"Hmmm, looks like the bastard who I killed back there has some fellow hunters around here." Bonnie gritted her teeth against the noise of the bullets clacking against the dumpster, which was a shield from them getting shot.

"Assholes want to kill us and take our shit." Damon grumbled.

Bonnie retrieved both of her handguns from her holsters, made sure that they were fully loaded. "Can you tell how many of them are?"

Damon answered. "Not exactly, but the shots seem to be coming from ahead of us a little ways."

Bonnie breathed out. "We would have a better chance at knowing how many we need to take out at least. I'll try to take a quick look."

But, with the bullets flying he didn't want her trying to take a peek and expose herself to getting shot. So, he held up a hand to prevent her from doing so. "I'll take a look instead."

She opened her mouth to say something, then nodded in agreement.

He took a deep breath, waited until there was a pause in the shooting towards them then popped his head around the corner of the dumpster. Only enough to see where the shoots were coming from. He saw eight people, standing behind some barriers in the distance, but within shooting range. They were yelling and glaring in the direction of him and Bonnie.

Damon maneuvered his head back around the dumpster just as more bullets started to fly by them. "There's eight of them, three women and five guys."

"Alright, I think that we can handle those numbers with the right strategy." Bonnie said.

"They seem pretty intent on killing us." Damon scowled.

"Then let's get rid of this fuckers first." Bonnie sneered.

He got his rifle and loaded it with more bullets until it was full. "Yes, let us kill them all."

The bullets continued to rain down on them for a couple of more minutes, then there was a moment where they stopped coming. Both of them figured out that it was because the people had to stop and reload their guns. And they saw this as their brief opportunity to take advantage of this.

With a look of determination on both of their faces, they gave each other the non verbal signal. Then they popped out their heads over the dumpster, with their guns. He with his rifle and she with her twin handguns and they started shooting at the group which instigating the fight against them.

As they had been reloading the group was caught off guard some. Which allowed about three of them to be taken out with Damon and Bonnie's gunfire before they could respond. But, just a short time later the hunters were able to reload and they fired back at the pair. Once again Damon and Bonnie had to duck behind the dumpsters for cover.

For a long twenty minutes they were caught up in this gun battle with the hunters and had to carefully return fire to make sure that they didn't get shot themselves. The gun blasts echoed through the otherwise empty city. It was tough for a while, since Bonnie and Damon were outnumbered. But, with their experience and skill and careful strategy they were able to shoot their way down to only having two people on the other side. As they had each taken out the men and women hunters with their guns.

It came down to Bonnie taking out the last women with a classic headshot as she tried to flee the scene after seeing that her partners were mostly dead now. The women may have tried to run away at the last minute, but as far as Bonnie was concerned it was too late, as they threat had been made on her and Damon's life for twenty minutes in the gunfight. And Bonnie was after all ruthless when a threat was made against her life.

But, the last male hunter who was left refused to give up and kept occasionally shooting at the pair from where he was perched. Damon knew that they wouldn't be able to go on until this guy was dead, so he turned to Bonnie.

"You distract him and keep him covered." Damon whispered. "I'm going to go around to get better angle in taking him out."

"I've got your back." Bonnie returned.

So, Damon stayed low to the ground, making sure to stay out of sight as he maneuvered around, using different things as a cover from any possible gunfire.

Bonnie raised back up with both of her guns. "Hey, you stupid fucker over here with your terrible aim."

The remaining hunter screamed back from the barrier that he was behind. "What did you say about me?"

Bonnie yelled out. "I said that you have awful aim, just like the rest of your dead hunters do. I'm still alive, stupid fucker."

This enraged the hunter. "I'll show you bitch."

Her bait had worked as the hunter started to shoot at her once more. Bonnie moved between ducking for cover and returning fire with her guns.

The hunter was so into his gun battle with Bonnie, so focused on trying to shoot her that he did notice that he had lost track of Damon. From where she was Bonnie soon saw Damon quickly come up on the hunter. And from the hunter's left side Damon had taken his revolver out. Damon then used his revolver to shoot down the hunter before the hunter could even realize what was going on.

Bonnie lowered her guns. "Nice work with the shooting there, Salvatore."

Damon put away his revolver. "You too, Bon-Bon."

They took a few moments to look around, listening out and making sure that nothing was out of place. Now that the gun battle was over with, silence had returned to the city.

"I think that these area is all clear." Damon commented.

"Yeah, let's just hope that we don't run into anymore of these assholes." Bonnie returned.

"Just our luck the only other human presence that we have ran into since our journey are those who wish to kill us." Damon walked back over to her.

"All the more reason why you're the only person that I have chosen to trust. Lots of messed up people in this world." Bonnie muttered.

Damon said. "There is, why don't we find a building to settle down in and call it a night."

Bonnie nodded. "I'm all for that."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

The two of them had found a warehouse just after darkness had fallen over the city. They settled down in the warehouse for the night and lit a few of the candles that they had carried with them from the bunker as a way to see.

To get their minds off of the fact that they had been in with a battle for their lives earlier with the hunters, including Damon nearly getting choked to death they had decided to read some of the books they had gotten, since neither of them was in the mood to sleep at that exact time.

"Can't believe what I'm reading right now." Damon spoke.

"What are you reading?" Bonnie questioned.

"A book called 'Fifty shades of Grey'." Damon held up the book in his hands.

"And what is that all about." Bonnie looked up from the book that she was reading.

Damon responded. "Well, I thought that it was a book about romance at first."

Bonnie furrowed her brows. "You picked out a book about romance?"

Damon answered. "I picked out a few other books, but also this one out of curiosity."

"Oh, well how is the romance in it?" Bonnie asked.

"It's actually not that romantic at all." Damon mumbled.

"It's not." Bonnie leaned back.

"Not at all." Damon made a face. "Actually it's a very terrible read."

She cocked her head to the side in question.

He explained. "The guy in it Christian Grey is kind of a jerk and it comes off more as abusive and controlling then as an actual romantic relationship."

Bonnie put in. "If that's the case that does sound like a terrible read."

"Plus, the sex scenes in it are cringe worthy." Damon added with distaste.

She just laughed.

"I'm serious, it reads like a bad porn story." And to prove it, he read off a few lines from one of the sex scenes in the book to her.

"Really, was that suppose to be considered hot." Bonnie blinked.

"Apparently, the author seemed to believe so." Damon snorted.

"Guess that author is mistaken." Bonnie said.

Damon went. "The joke is that a lot of people must have thought that it was hot, as this was a number one New York times best seller."

Bonnie stated. "Then I have to wonder what were those people thinking."

Damon expressed. "Ha!"

"The book I'm reading is very good though, at least so far." Bonnie mentioned.

"What is the name?" Damon questioned.

"It', by Stephen King." Bonnie replied.

Damon scratched his beard. "It?"

Bonnie explained. "It's a horror book, about a clown named pennywise who terrorizes and hunts down kids."

Damon joked. "Knew that there was a reason why I hated clowns."

"I do too, but it's still one great read." Bonnie said.

"I'll take your word for it." Damon verbalized.

"Why don't I read it to you, then the both of us can enjoy the book." Bonnie offered.

"Okay." Damon accepted with a half smile.

So, Bonnie started to read from where she had left off, as she was half way through the second chapter by now. She went over the words carefully while telling them in a fashion that allowed Damon to create a picture of what was happening in the book in his head. Before he knew it, he had found himself really into the story. Bonnie read page after page and chapter after chapter.

And before she knew it a few hours had past by. She had just finished reading the sixth chapter when she asked Damon a question about how he was liking the story so far.

"Did you hear me." Bonnie directed at him as she looked up from her book, just to see the sight of Damon lying on the floor fast asleep. She didn't know how exactly to respond to that, except for maybe being flattered that her voice was so soothing as a story reader that he had fallen to sleep with it.

She looked over at him, he had really looked comfortable and peaceful in his sleep at the moment. She gave herself a playful pat on the back for being able to put a man like him to sleep. Then realized that she herself was sleepy as her eyes had gotten heavy. Hours of reading had did the trick in making her ready to go to bed.

So, she bookmarked the page that she had stopped on and put the book to the side. Then used her hoodie to cover the floor and laid down on top of it. "Sweet dreams." She yawned over to him before she closed her eyes and fell to sleep herself. It was just before midnight when she did.

Unfortunately for Damon his dreams were anything but sweet. He had gotten in some decent hours of sleep and normal dreams. Before those dreams with into the horrible images of a fire and people screaming out in pain and agony.

Damon woke up with a jolt, saying "No" loudly and in a cold sweat.

He had said it so loud and had woken up with such a start that it woke up Bonnie as well. "Damon?" She rubbed the sleep in her eyes.

He was silent at first, looking around the warehouse with wide blue eyes, as it took him a moment to realize that what he had just dreamt wasn't real.

Seeing his wide eyed, cold sweat demeanor Bonnie sat up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Damon swallowed.

"You don't look fine." Bonnie's eyes scanned him over.

"It's cool, just a bad dream." Damon said after a while as visions of it danced around in his head, even though he was awake now.

"I would say that you appeared to have more of an awful nightmare." Bonnie commented.

Damon was silent again.

Bonnie added. "I would know about those as well."

Damon admitted. "Yes, I had an awful nightmare."

Bonnie inquired. "Was it the horror book I read, you think that it triggered you to have nightmare?"

"No, it has nothing to do with you reading that book to me at all. I enjoyed the book and the way that you told it as you read." He paused. "Did I wake you."

"You did." Bonnie nodded.

"Sorry about that." Damon apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Bonnie told him.

Taking a few seconds to look around the room he added. "It's still dark outside, what time of the night is it?"

Bonnie corrected him. "It's early in the morning actually, just before five a.m."

Damon knew that she normally would wake up at seven a.m. the earliest on most mornings. "You should go back to sleep and get those last couple of hours in."

"I'm not falling back to sleep after the way you just woke up." Bonnie shook her head.

"There is no need to stay up just because of me." Damon looked over at her.

"I got enough sleep in and besides I don't think you'll be able to go back to sleep either with the nightmare that you just had." Bonnie stated.

Damon could see that she saw right through him, sleep was the last thing that he wanted with the nightmare still in his head. "You're right, I not falling back to sleep anytime soon."

Bonnie suggested. "Perhaps I could lend an ear to you telling me about it."

Damon asked. "You wish to hear the details of my nightmare?"

She insisted with a shrug. "It could ease your troubled mind if you talk about and get it from your chest. I'm more than willing to listen if it will honestly help you."

The way that she said it, offering her ear and therefore her comfort managed to warm away some of the chill which the nightmare had caused.

"We hide nothing of importance from each other, right." Damon reminded the both of them.

"Right." Bonnie agreed.

Damon took a moment to gather up his thoughts and feelings. "The nightmare that I was had was related to an event that happened when I was in the Militia."

This made Bonnie concerned about him, if this event was severe enough to cause him to have nightmares. But, she said nothing.

"Before I tell you about the nightmare and what caused it, I think that it's best that I tell you my story from the start of how I came to be in that group and all of the fallout from it. It isn't a pretty picture." Damon quietly added.

"You just do what is best for you, as I said I'm here to listen." Bonnie reassured him.

"You remember how I told you that by mother placed me in a dumpster, right after she gave birth to me." Damon began.

"I remember that quite clearly." Bonnie commented.

Damon went on. "Well, the person who found me in there was a man. He saw me in the trash and took me in, and in that way I guess you could say that he was my father figure since I don't know where my biological Dad is. From outsiders a guy taking in an abandoned newborn would seem like a touching, good natured action. Especially for a baby born during the apocalypse, however I soon learned growing up with him as a kid that he was far from a good natured man."

"He was the reason why by whole entire time with the Militia was like one ugly long nightmare, he was the reason why I became a member if that malice group. And the man who did this to me name was Alaric."

Bonnie guessed. "And Alaric, he was a member of the Militia when he took you in as a newborn."

Damon sighed. "He was more than just that, he was the general, the leader of the Militia forces and he still is the leader today. He is the one who writes all of the rules, which include cold blooded murders of people and terrorizing innocents in order for him to maintain power. And many of the men gladly follow along with him to maintain the upper hand in this brutal world."

In support of him, she gave him the signal to continue on.

So, he did. "Like I said he didn't take me from the trash because he was good natured. He did it because he saw a baby boy and an opportunity."

She needed to know. "Why would getting a newborn baby boy be so important to him?"

Damon returned. "Because Alaric was intent on keeping the Militia growing and strong, by keeping the number of men who had joined and would join up. He needed to keep the Militia going forever, because the longer that it went on and the more members that he had, the stronger that he was as the general and an individual person."

"To do this he recruited grown men, offering them the highest chance at survival, by convincing them that those who belonged to the Militia survived much better than those who didn't. Men who refused to join the cause usually ended up beaten or killed. Besides recruiting grown men, his other way of keeping his numbers strong was by establishing that every boy born within Militia camps would automatically be raised to be Militiamen, to join the numbers when they were old enough of age."

"You mean the Militia raises child soldiers." She was sort of taken aback by this, even while knowing all of the terrible things that the group was known for.

Damon continued. "That's exactly what we were to Alaric and all of the men who followed his lead. Every boy ever born to a member of the Militia or within one of its bases must immediately be deemed as a future solider of the group. No exceptions, we didn't have a choice in becoming anything else when we grew up. From when we became young boys we were told that we must be members of the group, because that what was best for the Militia and the future of the group. And as boys they told us that going anywhere outside of it would result in us dying and at a young age a lot of us believed that, including me at first."

Bonnie pressed her lips together in an unpleasant manner. "Bullshit."

He understood that she didn't mean him personally, but that it was more so directed at the Militia for how they groomed young boys into being soldiers of the group. "Anyone child who didn't go along with the rules or didn't rule into line one hundred percent was disciplined, until they fell into line like a robot. They were very strict on the boys and the rules that we were suppose to follow. But, Alaric he was especially strict on me, since I was his adopted son, he was determined to shape me into his perfect ideal Militia man. And he used getting me from that trash as leverage for why I was suppose to go along with what he wanted of me."

" _Remember, son you would have been dead and not have lasted two days on this earth, if I didn't get you from the dump when you were a child. You owe it to me to become a fighter of my establishment." Alaric scolded to a five year old Damon._

"Once we reached the age of four, all of the boys enter into a class. Where it was drilled into our heads day in and day out, about how joining the Militia was our destiny and how it was an honorable thing to do, we had to read over booklets over the rules and regulation of the force. And had to resight the code, including how we would stay as members of it until death or give up our lives fighting for the cause." Damon explained as remembering all of this left a bitter taste in his mouth.

 _Alaric shouted out to a young group of boys sitting in a class, which included Damon. "We are the way, the truth, and the light. It's killed or be killed out there. And we must kill the weak to stay in power. Our way is the only way, the only way you'll survive is if you pledge a lifetime of loyalty to the Militia or else you'll die. Now repeat after me and recite this oath…."_

Damon recalled the oath that the kids were required to say every day before class. He had said the oath so much that he had grown tired of it and had grown to hate it by the time that he was seven years old. And had only said it because not doing so, meant that he or any other kids that refused to say it would have gotten whooped with a belt on bare skin the same number of times however old the kid was at the time.

"By the time that we were six, we were soon pictures of the people that the Militia had killed, as a way to destationalize us from the killings and violence we would have to do. Bodies of decapitated heads, missing limbs, people with their guts hanging open, blood and gore every where. It was suppose to get us used to it, but I never did and can remember having nightmares of bloody bodies because of the pictures that were shown to me." Damon wanted to throw up even as he thought about it.

"How could they expose young kids to such blood and death." Bonnie was very disturbed, the Militia was even lower than she thought it was.

"It gets worse. At seven years old we were made to go into physical military type training. Forced to do all of the physical training and exercise that the US military use to do and then some. And we had to train from sun up until sundown. With only a couple of 30 minutes breaks in between. And if a kid got tired or couldn't get through the training, then that was considered being weak and we were beaten with a belt." Damon grimaced.

The green eyed Bennett woman was enraged as she heard this. "Those bastards they made you do the physical training that grown ass men do at seven. You were just children."

Damon grew more angry with the more that he confessed to her. "On our eighth birthday, as soon as we turned eight that was the official time which we were made to join the Militia members which meant that we would go on missions with them. Our initiation into the group was for us to have to kill a person, an innocent person to be an honored member of the group."

Bonnie went. "You can't be serious, they forced boys to kill at eight years old."

"If one couldn't then one was considered weak and not a honorable Militia member." Damon shook his head.

"Is that how you got initiated into the Militia, you killed at eight years old." Bonnie's tone wasn't in a judgemental manner.

Damon's expression turned grim. "Believe me I didn't want to do it and killing was the last thing that I wanted to do as a child. Other boys raised up in the same class with me fell right into the killing, just because it had been pounded into their heads so much that it was what they were suppose to do."

"However, no matter how much I got told that it was okay to kill in the name of the Militia, I didn't wish to do it, I hated the thought of doing it."

As he told her further about his vicious childhood, he flashed back at the same time in his mind.

 _There were a line of men and women against the wall, facing the wall with their hands tied behind their back. They had been men and women, innocent for the most part that were taken in as prisoners by the Militia and now these men and women had become target practice for the initiation ceremony of Damon's class._

 _The Ceremony was suppose to end with each boy killing one of the people which were lined up against the wall in execution fashion. One by one the boys had fired off their guns and one by one each person fell dead to the ground, with bullet wounds in their body._

 _Damon stood there as a skinny eight year old, clutching as his gun which he was given. He jumped with each gun shot as each person was killed. His stomach filled with dread as the line got closer and closer to him. Until it was his turn, with a man standing before him, his hands tied behind his back and his back facing towards Damon._

" _Your turn, Damon do you duty and join us in our battle for superiority." Alaric directed at him._

 _Damon swallowed nervously stared ahead, but made no moves to shot the man._

" _What are you waiting for, deliver your execution right now." Alaric demanded._

 _His heart pounded with worry, the dread heightened, and he felt tears well up in his young icy blue eyes._

 _Alaric gave him the look of a disapproving father. "Son, what did I just tell you to do."_

" _I can't." Damon spoke in a shaky voice. As the other boys turned to stare at him._

" _You can't." Alaric scoffed._

" _I-I don't want to do it." Damon stuttered_

" _I'm not giving you a choice, just do it." Alaric's tone was threatening._

 _Tears brimmed over in his eyes. "Don't make me do this, I don't want to hurt or kill anyone."_

 _A few of the other grown male Militia members laughed at him in a mocking manner, as Alaric took a step forward. "For God sakes, son grab a hold of your balls and step up, be a man."_

 _Damon defied before he even knew what was coming out of his mouth. "No."_

 _Alaric's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "What did you just say?"_

 _The young Damon only could lick his dry lips._

" _You better deliver this execution, Damon." Alaric commanded in a harsh tone. "Or else face the consequences."_

 _He looked back and forth between the man and froze couldn't move a inch._

 _Alaric put his face right in Damon's. "Are you challenging my authority, You've got until I count to ten to kill him or you will be disciplined."_

 _And Damon very well knew what Alaric meant by disciplined. He turned to face the man who was up against the wall. Raised his gun, but Damon's hands shook so much as he did this that he couldn't keep the gun straight. Alaric was counting down to ten, but even as Damon knew that he would be punished for it, he didn't pull the trigger and broke down crying as tears streamed down his face._

 _Even while calling himself Damon's father, Alaric didn't feel concern or pity for seeing the child cry like a normal parent would. Damon's tears only managed to outrage and offend him. "Look at you crying like a punk, you're weak a boy and a disgrace to the Militia. You failed at your initiation and should be ashamed of yourself."_

 _The eight year old could only cry more._

" _Is there anyone willing to step up and show him what real men of the Militia do." Alaric called out._

" _I can do it." Another boy raised his hand, who also happened to be eight years old and in the class that Damon had been in._

" _Enzo." Alaric called out the boy's name. "Step on up."_

 _Enzo did with his gun that he had already killed a women with._

 _Alaric gestured. "Show how it is done."_

 _Enzo did and without hesitating he shot and killed the man that Damon couldn't._

" _See, Enzo here is a real man. One which will make the Militia proud, unlike you Damon." Alaric clapped._

 _Although Enzo was also a child, he was the exact opposite of Damon and had zero remorse of the murder that he had just committed. In fact Enzo seem to revel in the praise that Alaric was giving him, casting a cocky smirk in Damon's direction._

Back in present time Damon ran a hand over his face, which was slightly shaking as it had been when he held that gun as a boy. "I just couldn't bring myself to kill that man on that day. No matter how much Alaric tried to prompt me to do so."

"Because you were just a child, because you were actual human enough to feel compassion and sympathy towards a stranger not to want to kill them in cold blood. The fact that you hesitated in killing proves that you have more heart than most of those grown pigs in the Militia does and it's nothing to be ashamed of, Damon. No matter what the master pig told you." Bonnie said with sincere, firm words.

"I do know that now and knew it more and more as I got older. It doesn't change how Alaric was very angry with me that I went against his word and he let me know as I got punished for it." With a grimace, Damon retold more awful memories.

 _After the ceremony was over. Alaric had taken Damon back home, to the place on the campbase where they two of them had shared a building to stay in, since Alaric was his father figure._

 _Alaric yelled and ranted at Damon the whole time on the return to their place, which only made Damon want to cry more, even though his tears had dried up by now._

" _You have the nerve to disobey me, challenge my authority in front of my men. Your mother left you for dead, because she didn't want another mouth to feed." Alaric slammed the door behind them. "I took you in and this is the gratefulness that you show me, you little punk._

 _Damon stood in the middle of the room and flinched._

" _Now you must be punished for your disobedience of me. I am the law around here, understand me. You will be made an example of when you disrespect me." Veins popped out of Alaric's forehead._

" _Please, don't hurt me." Damon pleaded knowing that punishment meant a physical one._

" _Too late for that." Alaric walked over to a place where fire was lit. He stuck a poker in it. "Now remove your shirt."_

 _The eight year old stood there with his bottom lip trembling._

" _Do it right now or I'll kill you right where you stand." Alaric warned with a coldness._

 _So Damon took off his shirt._

 _Alaric kept the poker in the fire until it was glowing red with the heat. Now turn around._

 _A shaking Damon turned his back to Alaric._

 _Alaric approached him with the hot poker. "Consider this your punishment, you are going to learn you lesson in doing what I say."_

 _Then he pressed the hot poker to the dark haired child's bareback. Immediately Damon let out a blood curdling scream of agony._

" _Shut up and take it like a man." Alaric barked._

 _His cries filled the room as he kept getting burned over and over again all over his back, until the poker went cool. But, Alaric heated it back up and burned him again._

Once again Damon snapped back to the present, the echos of his cries as a child in his head. Alaric had spent a good hour burning his back, before finally letting up.

"Feeling the burn of that hot iron against my skin was one of the most painful things that I have ever felt in my life." Damon's eyes cast downward in a melancholy mood.

"How terrible, I hate that you had to go through that." Bonnie was upset and saddened about learning how he got burned, since she had honestly grown to care about him as a friend. "Now, I remember back the river, I saw those old scars all over your back. I figured you got burned, but didn't think that it was my place to ask…..to come and know that someone gave them to you on purpose, I don't have the words."

Absentmindedly he touched his back. "Yeah, that's were the scars came from, I got burned so badly on that night, the scars have remained even all of these years later."

Bonnie was pissed off. "Your so called father figure is a fucking monster for what he did to you, he deserves to rot in hell for it."

Damon spat out with emotion. "I agree with you one hundred percent on that, trust me. I've wanted to send him to hell by my own bare hands many times since that night. You remember how I told you that I liked to play the guitar."

Bonnie confirmed. "I remember."

"Well, I had that guitar since I was about thirteen, then he just ends up smashing it to pieces as a way to keep me in line, because I wasn't allowed to have fun or enjoy anything. He held a grudge against me ever since I couldn't kill that man on inisantion day."

The more that she learned of Alaric, the more disgusting that she thought of the man. She hated him even though she never personally met him.

"After the time that he burned me, he again tried to get me to kill in cold blood a couple of days later. However, I still resisted and refused even after he had burned me. And of course that had made him more angry that I would still defy him. So, he put me into the pit." Damon balled his hand into a fist.

"The pit?" Bonnie didn't want to know what it was, but at answered for his sake so that he could get it off of his chest.

"The pit, it's a small square hole in the ground. Barely big enough to move around in, only big enough for one person and is such a tight such that anyone claustrophobic would have a panic attack. The pit was used to help punish any member of the Militia would went against the rules. Kind of like solitary confinement and the person would be placed in there and the top would be closed on top of them."

Damon went on with his explanation. "After I couldn't kill for the second time at eight years old, Alaric put me into the pit. He shut down the top on me and I was made to stay in that tight space for six days in a row. No food, barely any water, in that tight space and in the dark because the light had been shut out."

"I was so hungry and my throat was dry from thirst. My legs cramping from being stuck in the same position for so long. I thought that I was going to stay stuck there until I died."

"Alaric is a cruel, twisted, sick individual to think about doing such a malicious act to another human being. Especially a child." Bonnie frowned.

"I was only able to have food again and a decent drink of water after I got pulled out of the pit. I was tested again on whether or not I would kill in the honor of the Militia and I still expressed how I didn't wish to do that. So, he put me in the pit again this time for eight days in a row."

 _Alaric tossed him back into the pit, saying. "I will break you, you little punk."_

Damon breathed out. "The second time in that pit, I lost track of what day it was and again was given no food and just a little water. I hated it in the pit and being trapped in there became a phobia to me. I got pulled out again, and once again I was given a gun and a unarmed person was placed in front of me."

" _Still want to say that you can't kill?" Alaric challenged. "You want to be punished again."_

" _No, sir. Please don't make me go back into the pit." Eight year old Damon cried._

" _Do it or I'll put you in the pit again, this time I'm not pulling you out. You'll stay there and will die a slow, painful death. And I will put you in there with poisonous spiders and snakes too." Alaric laughed coldly._

" _I don't want to go back there." Damon pleaded._

 _Alaric raised a hand in a threatening manner. "You're going back once I count down to ten."_

Damon confessed with remorse. "And that is how I killed my first innocent person at eight years old, getting burned and being in the pit twice and the threat of going back in there, pushed me to pull the trigger and I executed an innocent person. Felt terrible about it after wards and I threw up from the guilt of taking a life. But, I did it because I didn't want to go back."

She eyed him with a serious expression of pity. "Only after you were repeatedly threatened and pressured to do so."

"Since that day, I have been taking innocent lives whenever I was ordered to do so, I didn't like doing it and wasn't proud of it. But, everytime that I hesitated in killing someone, I would remember how it was in the pit, how it was to be burned and I took lives anyway. Had a hard time sleeping each time that I did." Damon admitted as it all weighed heavily down on him.

"Every single time that I even raised the slightest objection to something, I would get beaten black and blue, until after the years past by I wouldn't object to anything and just followed along with what I was told. Some may call it selfish to take innocent lives, to preserve my own but that's what I did."

"Knowing what I know now, it puts it all into perspective what you did." Bonnie gently commented.

"Puts what into perspective?" Damon eyed her.

Bonnie responded. "Before I judged you to be just another cold blooded, heartless murderer like the rest of them. But, now I know that you were made into a person who killed innocent people because of your childhood in the Militia and how they forced and bullied you into becoming a killer."

Damon directed. "Maybe so, but I also know that it doesn't excuse the innocent life that is on my hands, especially for those that I took when I got older. And it really did tear me up inside everytime that I did it, but I still choose to do it."

She said this to him. "No, it doesn't excuse the people that you choose to kill or completely make up for it. However, it does make what you became more understandable. Your path was unfairly forged for you since you were a newborn through childhood. They made you became a killer of innocent people and that says more about them than about you. Besides the fact that you do feel remorse for the lives you took is very important, it is what truly makes you different from the rest of them and it makes you better in the sense that you feel such remorse where much of them don't give a shit about the harm that they cause."

He fidgeted with his fingers. "I guess you have a point."

"I do have a point, what Alaric did to you were the acts of a vile, cruel, disgusting human being and all of those around them who allowed it to happen are just as guilty as he is. They knew that children are young and have impressionable minds and used that to their advantage. Alaric manipulated you my using fear and imitation of your life to try and make you kill. The fact that you managed to resist, object like you did even at eight years old, proves that you have more courage than they ever wish to have. Especially because you fought them even after the burning event and being put in the pit."

"They put you through physical torture and assaulted you. And mentally and emotionally abused you as a child, and put you through constant torment to make you cave in to their sociopathic actions. You were abused as a child in every sense of the word, physically, emotionally, mentally and while it's still wrong to take an innocent life, none of that is on you, Damon." Bonnie finished.

"Hearing you tell me that helps a lot, I was always told that what happened to be through my child and teenage years was my fault, no one ever really told me otherwise. So, part of me had believed that it was my fault." Damon shifted.

"I said it because it's the truth and Alaric is dead wrong on it being your fault. It's one hundred percent his and for those who stood by letting it happen, but it's not your fault." Bonnie reassured.

He felt more of his emotions lash out. "I grow to hate him more and more, with the more punishment that he put me through. On this day I loathe him more than I do anything other person. And I thought of ways every day where I could end his life for what he did to me."

She returned. "And you would have every right to feel that way, It's natural for anyone to feel that way against someone who abused and tormented them."

"Year after year I felt like I was in a hell hole, living and operating with the Militia. Going on missions with them to see the terrible acts that they committed against humanity. It was like a long awful living nightmare. Where I had no hopes of getting out of. Then one day on this mission I find a letter, with a map crammed in between some book."

Damon explained. "And this letter explains how there is a settlement in Virginia, that is like an oasis and a saving grace in this world. And it said "to the lucky one who finds these, follow this map to salvation." Like the owner wanted someone to find the map and make their way to the settlement. I never told anyone that I had found the map and kept it to myself. Thought that it was just some joke and a fairy tale in the first place. Because no way did I believe that the place in Mystic Falls and how it was described was possible. Certainly not after the hell that I went through in being raised in the Militia camp."

Bonnie looked on. "So, you had the map for a while before you actually decided to leave for Virginia."

"I had it on me for a couple of months, even though I didn't believe then that a such a place was real, something prevented me from throwing that map away." Damon said.

"Your instinct." Bonnie suggested.

"Correct." Damon agreed. "Which circles all the way back to the nightmare that I just had."

She was prepared to listen to what he had to say.

"There was one last mission that I went on before I eventually left the Militia for good." Once again he flashed back as he told her the story at the same time.

 _Weeks before he had met Bonnie._

 _He was on an ordered mission with a group of other Militiamen, just a couple of hours walk away from their permanent military base. This time Alaric wasn't with them._

 _Damon was told to stand outside of a cabin house with a few others, while another part of the group split off. A few moments later Enzo came back with some of the other men of the group and they were dragging along a family, which included the husband, his pregnant wife, and a their child which appeared to be around five years old._

" _Found them, they were hiding, like they knew that we were coming for them." Enzo spoke._

 _Damon watched as the other men dragged the terrified looking family along. "What are you doing?"_

 _Enzo turned to Damon. "We're here handling some business."_

 _Damon knew while enough what type of business that Enzo was preferring to. "I thought that this mission was all about just gathering supplies to take back to the base."_

" _Oh, Damon, Damon. It's hardly ever just about supplies. We're here to execute this man and his family right along with him." Enzo gave a short laugh._

" _But, why? What did they do wrong." Damon demanded to know._

" _This man, Joel." Enzo swept his hand. "Betrayed the Militia when he refused the offer to join our ranks, said something about how we were too dangerous because he had a family."_

 _Damon frowned. "Wait, you're going to have Joel and his family executed because he picked his family over us."_

 _Enzo garbled. "We're going to execute them together, as the lesson needs to be learned, the Militia must come before all, you're either with us or against us."_

" _Just wait, Enzo. I'm asking you to reconsider." Damon tried to reason._

" _You know how it is, Damon we show no mercy here." Enzo returned._

" _But, you're talking about killing a pregnant woman and that damn child." Damon swallowed, bothered by the very thought._

 _In a nonchalant manner, Enzo shrugged. "Tough luck, If they're too weak to survive in this world, just like Alaric says."_

 _Still Damon objected. "We can't do this to these people."_

" _I think that you forget that Alaric left me in charge of this mission since he isn't here." Enzo croaked. "Because he figured that you might chicken out and you're just not a reliable man."_

 _Damon glared at Enzo._

 _Enzo ordered to the other men. "Put, them inside of the cabin, light it on fire with them inside and lock the doors."_

 _The Militiamen dragged the now panicked family inside of the cabin, the husband begged for mercy, the wife screamed and the child was crying. They locked the family inside of the cabin and splashed the outside of the cabin with gasoline. Then Enzo, a a few of the other men stepped up with lit torches._

" _I won't allow this to happen." An upset Damon stepped forward preparing to stop them from doing what they were about to do._

" _You won't? You're outnumbered here, any attempts to stop us will be futile and lead to the family doing either way. Question is will you risk yourself in failed attempt. You know that if word got back to Alaric that you attempt to stop this execution that you'll end up back in the pit for days on it until you die." Enzo gloated._

 _The present adult Damon had memories of how it was to suffer in the pit and those memories made him freeze on the spot._

 _Enzo did the same cocky smirk when he saw this. "That's what I thought."_

 _Helpless to the plight of the family, Damon stood and watched as they lit the cabin on fire. The cabin bursted into ugly yellow and orange flames of the fire. And soon the screams of pain and agony could be heard from the family inside as they burned alive._

 _He stood there with wide, teary eyes of heartbreak as the screams slowly faded away until they stopped and the cabin was nothing but ashes. He had witnessed an innocent family being burned to their deaths and there was nothing that he could do about it._

Damon ended his flashback by saying. "And that was what my nightmare about, hearing that poor family being burned alive.

Bonnie cringed at the description of the family being burned alive and was emotionally sickened by it.

"Seeing that family burned alive was the last straw for me. I couldn't take it any longer. I decided right then and there that I was going to leave the Militia." Damon muttered.

"It's perfectly understandable why you would be driven to leave after witnessing a action so horrible as people being burned alive. Combined with all of the abuse that you went through I can see why you had enough." Bonnie said.

He confirmed. "A couple of days after that event, when we had returned to the camp base, I have made my decision to escape that hell hole and nothing was going to change my mind. That night, when I knew that the guarding would be down to a skeleton crew, I packed all that I could into my duffle bag and with that and just the clothes on my back I got out of there."

"Once I had managed to get outside of the base without being caught, I ran and ran as far away from that base as I could get, I ran until the muscles of my legs ached and my lungs burned, I ran for hours worried that they might catch me, but they never did. And left knowing that any soldier caught leaving would immediately be sentenced to death for deserting. So there is no going back for me, because if I did go back to the Militia they would call me for deserting."

She eyed him through her soft green eyes. "It takes a lot of guts to work of the will to leave, after being trapped in those circumstances for so long like you were, and doing it knowing that leaving the Militia is a death penalty punishment for them:

Damon stated with meaning. "I left not only to escape the conditions that I went through, but also for a second chance, a second chance at a new life and a new beginning. And in finding this settlement a chance at redemption for all of the awful acts that I committed."

Bonnie found herself feeling sorry for him and having empathy for the blue eyed man for what he went through. While she herself had a harsh and tough childhood from ten and up once her Dad had been taken away from her, making her have to fend for herself in a brutal world. She at least took some comfort in how her Dad, when he was around loved her and gave her the best childhood that he could provide. As well as knowing that her mother, Abby had loved her up until the day which she gave birth.

It appeared that Damon's whole childhood and teenage years were filled with abuse of every kind and that he was shunned by his father figure and had never gotten to know what it was like to be loved. She could tell how heavily his past weighed on him and how much it bothered him and because of that she felt for him.

"If you ask me, I think that you're well on your way to being redeemed and earning your second chance at life." Bonnie worded.

"I hope you're right." Damon nodded.

"And if I could I would kill the pig Alaric for what he did to you when you were a child." Bonnie added.

Despite the heaviness of the mood that he was currently in, Damon chuckled. "That's very comforting to know."

Maneuvering she made her way over to him and kneeled until she was at face level with him. "For one, I'm glad that you made the decision to get away because it lead to us meeting and becoming friends."

"I'm glad that we met and became friends as well." Damon looked her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry that you went through such a terrible childhood, but you are strong for surviving it." Bonnie whispered as she placed a comforting hand on top of his. "Just know that I'll always have your back and that you're stuck with me for life."

Damon was both comforted by her words and warmed by the embrace of her touch. "Same here, Bonnie." He softly worded. "You're stuck with me for life too."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **I know that this chapter is super long, so Thanks to anyone who stuck it out and read through the whole thing. But, I needed to get everything that I had planned for this update in, especially Damon's back story.**

 **To clear up any confusion in this AU story, Alaric is several decades older than Damon is and is old enough to be his father. Please leave feedback if you can, it's appreciated.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	9. Chapter 9

**W: Mentions of attempted rape in this chapter**

Several days later they had left the city of Midland, Texas and were now about seventy miles outside of the city, in what was a large rural area of the big state. They took their time, going slow but steady on foot, since it was now starting to reach into the beginning parts of summer and Texas was known for having some of the hottest summers on the continent.

Each of them had changed their clothes into the new wardrobe that they had found in the stores back in the city. And as Damon kept commenting on how good that he looked in his new clothes and leather jacket, Bonnie had joked to him that he should get himself a room with a mirror in it. Although she agreed that how he looked in the leather jacket complimented him a lot, for his style and the type of man he was.

He did tell her that she looked nice in her new clothes. And Bonnie admitted that having new, clean clothes was a fresh change for the both of them. Currently they were making their way through a wooded area of the rural section which they were in. Using the woods and it's trees as a cover from the growing heat of the day. As it was just before afternoon, which was often the hottest parts of the day during the summer months.

They were having quiet, small talk with each other as they made their way through the trees. Then there was a pause in the conversation as Damon's bladder was full, and he informed her that he had to go and take a leak. She told him that she would wait for him, and he detoured off to go and relieve himself in privacy.

When Damon came back to the spot where he last spotted Bonnie, where she was waiting for him, he saw that she was nowhere in sight. Furrowing his brows he looked around, but couldn't see Bonnie anywhere near.

So, he called out to her. "Hey, Bon-Bon where did you go?"

There was no answer.

"Bonnie." Damon called out again.

Still no answer.

His eyes scanned through the trees as he stood there searching for her, but he couldn't even see a single sign of her. He tried again. "Where are you, did you go off to take a piss too?"

Just in case that was the answer, he stood there and waited for a few minute for her to come back, but when she didn't he started to walk around to look for her himself. He kept calling out her name as he did so, however was only met with silence or the occasional bird chirping or some other small animal making noise.

Damon looked through the woods, walking back and forth, left and right trying to find her and couldn't. So after several moments of this going on he started to get worried. Where was she? What had happened to her?

Those concerns increased in him as he thought about how many people out there had the goal of inflicting him and ill will on whoever they ran across. Then he questioned what if one of those people had taken her while he went off to take a pee. With these thoughts in his mind, Damon moved into a sprint to look for her. If someone had taken her then he hoped that he wasn't too late to find her and stop them.

He sprinted around in the woods, about to open his mouth to call for her once again.

Suddenly, out of nowhere Bonnie jumped from behind a tree that he was about to pass. "Boo!"

Startled, Damon jumped back. "Damn, shit."

"Got you!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"What in the world are you up to, woman?" Damon's blue eyes widened, as his heart thudded in his chest from being started.

"Ha, you should see the look on your face!" Bonnie laughed.

"Really, you hide from me just so that you could jump out and scare me." Damon was taken aback.

She grinned. "Yeah and it totally worked."

He huffed out. "Now why would you pull something like that?"

She shrugged. "I was bored, so on impulse I decided to hide from you to see what happened."

"Hey, not nice I thought that something bad happened to you there for a minute." Damon wagged his finger.

"Right, I was watching you running around with a chicken with your head cut off." Bonnie laughed again.

"Not very mature there, Bonnie." Damon grumbled although relieved that she was okay.

"Chill, Damon I was just messing around with you." Bonnie gestured.

"Hmmmp." Damon lifted his chin.

Bonnie smiled. "However, it is warming to see that you care so much about me, I would react the same way if you went missing for real."

Seeing her smile Damon couldn't help but to smile back himself. "You're lucky that I can't stay mad at you for long."

"Hmmmm, this give me an idea, why don't we have some fun while we're at it." Bonnie suggested.

"I'm always for some fun, why do you have in mind." Damon responded.

"Hide and seek." Bonnie offered.

Damon was perplexed. "What is hide and seek?"

Bonnie arched a brow. "Really, you don't know what hide and seek is?"

He returned seriously. "No, I have no idea what that is."

"You know the game where people get together and one hides while the other tries to seek and find them. It was a popular childhood game that my dad introduced me to a few times." She hinted.

"Well, I wasn't exactly allowed to play many common childhood games as a kid." Damon rubbed the back of his neck.

"Right, I guess I should have been aware of that." Bonnie let out a breath.

He said to her. "It's fine."

She added. "Hey, there is a first time for everything, just because you didn't play it as a child, doesn't mean that you can't play it now."

"Interesting, we're both adults now and you wish for us to play a child's game." Damon cocked his head to the side.

"I just figured that in this world, when there is an opportunity to have some fun you take it, since there are times where having fun is so rare. Plus, I also figured that since you got into some heavy, depressing discussion about your childhood the other day, that I could help you lighten your mood for a more cheerful moment. Because you should have all the fun in the world after what you went through." Bonnie warmly told him.

"I like the way that you think." He grinned.

"Then let's do it, let's throw all caution to the wind and have some fun here. Starting with a game of hide and seek." Bonnie insisted.

Damon chuckled. "Alright, I'm game why don't you inform me of how to play hide and seek."

Bonnie started off explaining the game to him then finished with. "...and that's pretty much the concept of the game, we pick out a base, one person hides and the other counts. Then the seeker will try to find the hider and the hider has to get to the base before being tagged or that person is out, Got it."

Damon nodded. "Yeah, I got it, now who is going to be the hider and who the seeker."

She pointed a thumb towards herself. "I'll count first and you hide, if I catch you before reaching the base, then you have to count while I hide."

"Fine enough. Why don't we use that big oak tree stump in the middle as the base." Damon offered.

"Cool, okay." Bonnie accepted.

"Let us start the game then." Damon added.

After a few minutes the game started. Bonnie closed her eyes, turned her back and counted to twenty. Then she opened her eyes and said. "Come out, Come out wherever you are."

She then proceeded to try and find Damon, looking behind trees, and other places where a person could hide. It took her a minute or two but she discovered him crouching behind a large flower bush.

"Find you!" She loudly started.

"You'll have to catch me first though." Damon smirked.

"That won't be a problem." Bonnie said.

With that Damon took off on a run towards the base and Bonnie took off after him.

Bonnie chased him. "Get back here."

Damon shouted back at her. "No way."

Being in good shape, Bonnie was a very fast runner, however Damon was slightly faster. She was just an arm's reach away from touching him when he touched the stump first.

"Made it!" Damon exclaimed.

"I almost had you." Bonnie snapped her fingers.

"Almost doesn't count, now does it." Damon teased.

"You just got lucky." Bonnie gave him a lighthearted smirk.

He told her. "Sure, whatever you say to make yourself feel better that I beat you. Not bad for my first time playing this game."

She placed her hands on her hips. "You won't beat me to the base again."

He wiggled his fingers towards her. "Wanna bet?"

"Okay, I'll give you the first round. Let's do it again to see if I can catch you this time." Bonnie challenged.

"Fine by me, if you want to lose again." Damon took a step back.

She rolled her eyes. "Just be prepared to hide again."

He gestured. "You close your eyes first."

With a shake of her head, Bonnie closed her eyes and counted to twenty again. She opened them and again was about to state. "Come out, Come….." But, stepped mid sentence.

There was Damon leaning against the stump, his arms folded across his chest as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Damon!" Bonnie yelped.

"Yes, Bonnie?" Damon fluttered his eyelashes.

"You didn't even bother to hide." Bonnie pointed.

"I confess that I didn't." Damon admitted.

Bonnie told him. "The whole point was for you to hide."

Damon said. "Actually, I just did the part where I had to made it to the base."

Bonnie scoffed. "That's not how it works, you're still suppose to hide."

"I sort of hid…..behind the stomp when you first started counting." Damon retorted lightly.

"Not fair, you completely cheated, so this round doesn't count." Bonnie stomped her foot down.

"What are you going to do about it, huh." Damon playfully challenged.

She returned just as playfully. "You'll see what I can do."

He snickered. "Oh, I'm so scared. That's what you get for the trick that you pulled on my earlier, with jump scaring me."

"If that's how you feel then, do you wish to go another round of hide and seek with you counting this time." Bonnie raised both eyebrows.

"Nah, I'm good with winning two times if a row. So, don't be a sore loser." Damon smirked.

"Want to fight about it?" Bonnie stuck out her tongue.

"Want to fuck about it?" Damon joked.

Bonnie snorted, at ease with him enough to know that he was just kidding around with her. "Please, in your dreams, Salvatore."

Damon winked. "Perhaps in your dreams, Bennett."

Bonnie held up a hand. "Give me a break, you're not all up that."

"Of course I am, I'm the most irresistible guy on this planet." Damon boasted.

"Wow, I don't think so. Mr. Ego." Bonnie directed.

"Mr. Ego." Damon wrinkled up his nose. "Hey, nicknaming is my thing."

She lightly poked at his chest. "It can be my thing as well, with your Ego being twice the size of Texas."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Take that back."

"Or else what?" She lifted her chin.

"Or else you'll pay." Damon told her.

"Ha, yeah right." Bonnie said.

Damon took a step towards her. "Take that back, Bennett."

Bonnie took a step back. "Not going to happen, Salvatore."

Reaching for her, Damon ran his fingers gently over the skin of her neck. "Then you leave me no choice."

Instinctively Bonnie giggled at the sensation that his fingers caused.

"Just as I thought, you're ticklish!" Damon exclaimed.

"No, I'm not." Bonnie tried clearing her throat to play it off.

"Yes, you are." Damon went into a mischievous grin.

"I'm certainly not ticklish." Bonnie pressed her lips together tightly to prevent herself from giggling again.

He challenged. "Then prove it and let me tickle you and see if you don't laugh."

Part of her knew better and that he was telling the truth, but then there was the other part of her that couldn't turn down a good, light hearted challenge that he just gave. "Fine, go ahead and tickle me."

Damon reached for her again. "Gladly."

He proceeded to tickle her, and at first she had managed to hold herself back. However it didn't take long for the sensation to overcome her. And she went into full blown giggles and laughter.

"See, I told you so." Damon after seeing that his mission was accomplished.

"Okay, Okay, you were right." Bonnie laughed.

"Now that I am, beg me for mercy." Damon chuckled.

She questioned between giggles. "Beg you for what?"

He repeated. "Mercy and I'll stop tickling you."

Bonnie resisted. "No way."

"Alright, then play it that way." He tickled her even more.

Which sent her into an uncontrollable fit of laughter and giggles.

And hearing her laugh delighted him and made him laugh in return.

"Alright, Alright. I beg you for mercy." Bonnie stated in between a laugh.

"Hah, victory, mercy granted." Damon ceased on tickling her.

"How did you know that tickling was my weakness?" Bonnie wiped a tear from her eye which had been caused by laughing so hard.

"Just had a feeling about it." Damon grinned.

Bonnie grinned as well. "So, now that we have hide and seek out of the way, want to try playing another game?"

Damon nodded. "I'm all in."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They spent much of the day just fooling around and playing different games with each other. Both of them having a great time while adding some fun to their constantly growing friendship. They had fun until the night time came.

Now the both of them were a little tired from a long day of playing around and they wanted to rest for the remainder of that night. They picked out a spot in the woods that they had been playing it and Damon built them a fire. Currently they were sitting around this fire, as Bonnie dug through her bag to look for something.

"What are you searching for?" Damon questioned.

"A very important item." Bonnie replied.

"Need help?" Damon wondered.

"No, I've got it." Bonnie pulled out the item which she was searching for.

His mood lifted even more when she saw what she had. "Is that what I think that it is."

Bonnie held up the bottle which was filled with amber liquid. "Yep, it's a bottle of bourbon that I found right before we left the city,"

Damon rubbed his hands together. "Did I tell you that I'm a big fan of bourbon."

"Perhaps you did in passing, although it wouldn't surprise me." Bonnie responded.

"Mind sharing?" Damon asked hopefully.

"Of course not, it's what friends are for." Bonnie took the top off of the bottle. "It's been awhile since I had a good alcoholic drink."

"Me too," Damon put in.

She offered him the bottle. "Want to take a sip."

He insisted. "Ladies first."

She went. "Thanks." before taking a big sip herself. The liquid burned as if went down her throat in a good way. "Whoa, that delicious."

Being in impressed that a woman as tiny as she was could take a drink. "Let me get a taste of it."

Bonnie handed him the drink.

He took it before taking a large gulp. "Whew, you've picked out a high quality bottle of bourbon."

"I saw it and just couldn't leave it behind." Bonnie said to him.

Damon took another gulp before handing the bottle back to her.

And for a moment they just sat in silence, passing the bottle back and forth to take turns drinking.

"You know, today was quite the fun." Damon broke the silence.

"It was very enjoyable." Bonnie agreed.

"I didn't think that I needed it." Damon commented.

She looked over at him. "You didn't think that you needed to have fun?"

Damon explained. "The games that you and I played today, I didn't think that I needed to experience that until I actually did."

Bonnie returned. "Oh."

He added. "It may seem like a meaningless, childish thing to a lot of people. Me a grown ass man doing what he made for children. But, it means a lot to me in living through something that I didn't get to do much as a child. Doing games which would be scolded at by Alaric in my childhood."

"Well, it just came to my mind that you should get to gain back the fun which was taken away when you were a kid. I just figured that it would be neat for us to do together, after you told me your backstory. I just wanted to help brighten your mood." Bonnie directed.

"You did brighten my mood and help me out. And it was neat to do with you. This would be the type of thing that Alaric would prevent me from doing when I was around him, just to be mean and spite me." Damon stated.

"He can't prevent you from doing so now, because he's not around. So, screw Alaric." Bonnie commented.

"You're right, thanks for allowing me to experience a great time today." Damon smiled.

"You're more than welcome, Damon." She beamed.

The two of them looked up at the dark night, star packed sky through the treetops.

"It's really amazing how many stars you can see on a moonless night such as this one." Damon spoked.

She agreed. "I know, it's just beautiful."

"There's just so many stars up there, all of them big balls of gas and fire billions of light years away." Damon said in awe.

"Millions of stars, and thousands of galaxies. It's incredible when you think about it." Bonnie emphasized.

He leaned back on his elbows. "The universe is very expansive indeed."

She nodded. "The universe is endless. There's millions of stars, hundreds of thousands of them which have planets orbiting them, with solar systems. Makes me think that life is out there."

He cocked his head out of curiosity. "You really think that there is life out there?"

"I do. I mean in the perspective of things we're just this small tiny blue planet in the vastness of space. Yet, there are thousands of planets out there and it's hard to imagine that we are the only one with life on it. So, yes I do think that somewhere out there is life." Bonnie confirmed.

"Perhaps you're right." Damon gave it a thought. "Intelligent life on a planet, orbiting a distant star, looking up at the night sky at the exact moment which we are doing right now."

"That would be pretty amazing if it were actually happening." Her eyes scanned the sky.

Damon looked up. "It would be spectacular and if there is life maybe their planet is faring better than humanity is on this one."

Bonnie expressed. "I would hope so, not everyone is suffering from a post apocalyptic world like we are."

Damon shook his head. "Don't think that they are. Where did you get your interest in space and the universe."

"My Dad, yet another thing that he talked to me about." Bonnie switched her gaze from the sky to Damon.

"I see." Damon turned to her.

"He was a science teacher for some middle school before the end times came. His job was teaching before the world went to shit. But, he kept some of what he learned and used it to sort of home school me." Bonnie directed.

"It's good that he did that then." Damon commented.

There was another break in the conversation, as they drink from the shared bottle of bourbon. Talking about her Dad once again had brought up the painful memories of how she lost him. And since she now fully trusted Damon and was closer to him than she ever was, she felt like she had come to the point where she could tell him more details about her past.

The blued eyed man next to her notice the expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

She answered. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just feel like I'm ready."

"Ready?" Damon shifted.

"To tell you about my backstory, like you told me about yours. I feel like we've reached the point in our relationship where I'm comfortable enough to tell you what happened with my father and how he got murdered. Plus, the fallout because of it." Bonnie gave him her explanation.

"I'm relieved you know trust me enough to open up to me about your Dad, knowing what a sensitive subject he is for you." Damon gently said.

"I think that it would help me, if I discussed it with you, since I've usually kept it pent up inside of me. And I'm ready not just to open up about what happened to my Dad. But, the other events of my past, especially with the Militia and how it shaped why I loath them to this day." Bonnie mumbled.

He told her. "You just discuss with me whatever you're most comfortable discussing. No pressure."

She assured. "I'm comfortable with telling you everything about my backstory and leaving no important detail out. This is a very big deal since I've never mentioned my past much to any person before."

Damon placed a brief hand on her shoulder. "Take you time, I have all night to hear what you have to say. I'll listen to your past like you listened to mine."

"Right." Bonnie took a deep breath. "I'll start with when my Dad was killed and go from there."

Eyeing her, Damon patiently waited for her to start.

Pausing to gather herself, she started to tell him and much like when he revealed his past to her, she had flashbacks at the same time that she was discussing it with him.

 _The last night that Bonnie Bennett's dad was alive._

 _A ten year old, youthful Bonnie was busying herself inside of the house which her Dad had built when her Mom was four months pregnant with her. It took him months to finish it and he finished it just a few weeks before Bonnie was to be born. And kept Bonnie there as the safe haven from the increasingly harsh post apocalyptic world. But, despite the conditions, Bonnie was a happy, content ten year old child, because her Dad worked hard to make sure that she felt safe and happy in her own home._

 _Currently, it was just after dinner and around eight p.m. As Bonnie sat at the candle lit table running her crayons over the coloring book which her Dad had given to her a couple of weeks ago. He had collected toys, children's books and other items to keep her entertained. Since the tv and internet no longer existed as a form of entertainment._

 _Rudy Bennett, her dad entered into the room. The home that he built was small, with just four rooms. But, he was proud of it and the home that he had made with his daughter. "Bedtime in an hour, sweetheart."_

 _Little Bonnie pouted. "Aw, do I have to go to bed in an hour."_

" _Yes, you do." Rudy responded._

" _But, that's so early and it will only make it nine o'clock." Little Bonnie said._

" _It will, and I usually let you stay up later. But, tomorrow is our special hike, remember." Rudy told her._

 _She just did remember. The majority of the time she was isolated to this house and the front, back yards, along with the photo developing shed. Her Dad had kept her confined to these areas as a way to keep her safe, to lessen the chances of them running into someone that wished them harm._

 _However, once a month since she was seven years old, Rudy had taken her out on hikes just a couple of hours outside of their home. And Bonnie cherished it because it allowed some father, daughter time. Plus she got to get out the space surrounding the house every once and awhile._

 _Little Bonnie stated. "I forget that it was tomorrow, I do remember now."_

 _Rudy added. "Then you know that we always pack up and start out on our hike first thing in the morning, then come back here in the evening. Our hike days are long, so you need to get plenty of sleep."_

" _Okay then, I'll go to bed in an hour." Bonnie went now excited about the day._

" _Good, babygirl." Rudy beamed._

" _Can I take my camera, to take pictures of the animals and the trees?" Little Bonnie questioned with hope._

 _Rudy eyed her with fatherly love. "Of course you can, you can take all the pictures that you want and we'll develop them in the shed."_

 _Little Bonnie gave a toothy grin. "I can't wait."_

 _Rudy added. "I'll be in the other room if you need anything."_

 _Little Bonnie gave a nod. "Okay, Daddy. I'll just color until it's time to go to bed."_

 _Rudy left the room and she resumed on her coloring._

"That was the last peaceful moment I had in my life, before they came." Bonnie mumbled

"The Militia." Damon connected.

"Correct." She continued in revealing her past through flashbacks.

 _Suddenly, Rudy bursted back into the room with alarm and fear on his face._

 _It made little Bonnie drop her crayons._

" _Hide quickly." Rudy told her._

" _Daddy?" She was taken aback in his sudden change in demeanor._

 _Rudy waved his hands wildly. "Hide now, babygirl._

 _Little Bonnie jumped up from her seat. "Why? What is it?"_

 _There was a loud commotion outside that had Rudy casting a fear filled glance back towards the front door._

 _It made her flinch._

 _Then there was a loud banging on the door. "Open the damn door, it's the Militia."_

 _Rudy bent down to look at his daughter at eye level. "It's really important that you hide, Bonnie now please go."_

 _She stood there frozen for a moment, not sure what to do. When another loud bang at the door caused her to run and move across the room, she went into the small coat closet and shut the door behind her._

 _Just seconds later there was a sound of wood breaking as the front door was kicked in and broken down. Then there was a pound of feet as people rushed into the room where her and Rudy was._

 _Little Bonnie looked through the cracks of the door to see a group of men dressed in military like gear, armed with big guns step in._

"Through the slight opening in the closet, where they didn't know I was in yet, I could see the Militia storming in. One of them who said that he was the general of the group and about five other men following along with him, if I can recall." Bonnie whispered.

"Why were they there? What would the Militia want with your father." Damon wanted to know.

Bonnie lifted her shoulder. "My Dad, he wasn't connected to them and did nothing against them in anyway. You are aware of the fact that Militiamen raid people's houses for paid and supplies. Often without permission."

Damon grumbled. "I'm more than aware if that fact."

Bonnie went on. "Unfortunately, they were on a mission it seems and had ran out of food and supplies for their men. So, somehow they came up on the house that I lived in with my Dad. It was just completely random when they found it. And they saw it as a target to get what they wanted."

 _A afraid Bonnie watched from the closet as the Militiamen surrounded her Dad._

" _Why didn't you open the door." The General boomed at Rudy._

" _Because you're not invited here, I didn't want to open the door." Rudy stood tense._

" _That's not how it goes, people do as we say, when we say it." The General demanded._

 _Rudy tried to stay calm. "I don't know why you are here or what you want from me, but I have nothing of worth here."_

 _The General grinned coolly, "Sure you do and you're going to give it up for me and my men."_

 _Rudy glared at the man. "Leave and get the hell out of my home right now."_

" _Don't tell us what to do, we're the Militia and our law rules in all parts. What you're going to do is you're going to give us all of your food, plus whatever you have of value." The General commanded._

" _I'm not giving you a thing that I own." Rudy retorted._

" _Did you just refuse my orders. Not a smart idea." The General sneered._

 _Rudy raised his voice. "I worked hard to get this food, if you and your boys are hungry, find food somewhere else."_

 _The General warned. "Give us all of your food and anything of value or face the consequences."_

" _I'll give you some but not all since I need to eat too. Then you can leave." Rudy hoped to get the men out._

" _No deal, we want it all." The General returned._

" _I don't have enough to feed all of your men." Rudy babbled._

 _The General shrugged. "Don't worry we will make due with what you have."_

 _Rudy was going more and more tense with the longer that they were in the house. Knowing that his babygirl was close by hiding._

 _It was then that the General noticed children's books and toys laying around. "Who else is with you here?"_

" _No one else is with me here." Rudy quickly denied._

" _Then explain these toys laying around here." The General directed._

" _They belong to me." Rudy lied to protect his child._

 _Little Bonnie stood in the closet, growing more nervous with the more time that the Militiamen were there._

 _The General blinked sarcastically. "Yes, a bunch of toys belong to a grown man."_

 _Rudy swallowed hard. "I live here alone and I am alone."_

" _You know what I don't believe you, you've got a little tike running around here somewhere." The General accused with amusement._

 _This made little Bonnie take a step back in the closet, with her heart now pounding. Those men now seemed to know that a child lived here and that child was her._

" _No, I have no kids." Rudy frantically shook his head._

" _We'll see about your claim…..search this place for anyone else and kill them if you find them." The General ordered his men._

 _Which sent Rudy into panic mode and he spoke out in the hopes of preventing his child from being discovered. "Wait."_

" _Wait for?" The General and all of the other Militiamen turned to him._

" _I'll give you all of my food and whatever supplies that you need, just take what you want and get out." Rudy rushed out the words._

" _Thanks, we don't need your permission to take what we want, we just take it. But, we will also take your life." The general added coldly._

 _Rudy shook his head from side to side. "Take my life? Why so?"_

 _The General eyed him with malicious. "Because you refused to give us what we asked for at first."_

 _Rudy scattered. "Should not matter, I'm telling you to get what you need as long as you leave me in peace."_

" _In that case, we take your life tonight, because it's just what we want to do." The General deadpanned._

" _Huh?" Rudy blinked in terror._

" _Killing the weak is needed in this world and you seem to be among the week. We have to do what we have to do in order to let people know around here that the Militia rules." The General barked._

 _Rudy held up his hands. "I want nothing to do with you and have nothing against your group. Just please let me go and leave me alone."_

 _The general clucked his tongue. "Never works when they all beg for their life, they always end up dead."_

" _Please, don't do this." Rudy strattered._

" _Shut up and get on your knees." The General grabbed at his gun._

" _No." Rudy refused._

 _A couple of the other Militiamen in the room shoved Rudy down forcing him on his knees._

 _The General stepped up to Rudy, gun drawn. "The less you fight this, the less painful it will be"_

" _Please, don't." Rudy pleaded._

" _This isn't personal, it's just a business." The General fired off the gun which he had aimed directly at Rudy's head._

 _The loud gunshot went off inside of the small house, hurting Little Bonnie's ears. From the closet she watched as her father fell to the ground, immediately dead._

 _Out of horror and the grief at seeing her father killed right before her eyes, Little Bonnie squealed out. "Daddy, No." Before she could stop herself._

 _Which gave away her presence and her location to the others._

 _The General, along with the other men turned in her direction. The General glared at the closet. "Who ever is in there, you better come out or we'll kill you too."_

"...And it was at that very moment where my childhood ended, my whole world came crashing down." The emotion of remembering had heartbreak entered into Bonnie's tone. "I just witnessed my Dad getting his brains blown out before me and didn't know what to do about it."

"I'm very sorry you had to see something like that as a kid. What those bastards did to you and your father was sick and twisted. He certainly didn't deserve such a harsh death." Damon frowned.

"Neither do most of the innocent people who they have murdered do, I was devastated at ten years old seeing the only person that I was close to taken away from me. Yet, I had no real time to mourn really, because I immediately had to focus on being alone and surviving and fending for myself." Bonnie mumbled.

All Damon could do was shake his head.

Bonnie continued. "Once I was forced to leave the house, I was out in the wilderness of the state of Washington, lost and not knowing how to respond to what had just happened or how I was going to go on."

Damon whispered. "Of course you would respond in such a way, you were just ten years old. Even a grown person would be lost at such a point."

"However, still I had to find a way to survive, which was far from easy. I went from having a shelter and food provided for me from my dad. To being homeless and not knowing where my next meal was going to come from. The first weeks fending for myself was rough and brutal."

"To this day, I don't know how I managed to live past those situations and conditions. The first weeks I was forced to live out in the woods, with not much to eat and no roof over my head." She pressed her lips together grimly.

"I was outside for weeks on end, eating whichever bugs that I could find on the ground, because I ended up being just that hungry. Drinking water from dirty puddles in order to prevent myself from dying of thirst. Spending nights sleeping on the ground with no sheets to cover up with,"

Damon felt very saddened for her and how terrible it had to have been for her to be a ten year old girl, not knowing where her next meal was coming from or even if she would survive the next day.

Bonnie went on. "I had lost a lot of weight from the lack of substantial meals. After weeks in the wilderness, I some way found my way into the city of Seattle. Where I spent months more trying to survive alone on the streets. I would dig through trash for something to eat and sleep in abandoned buildings. One time I was starving and the hunger pains got so bad that I ate a loaf of moldy bread. Saw the bodies of dead people in the streets and was afraid that I would turn out to be one of them."

"No child should ever be homeless, starving, or left to fend for themselves." Damon said to her. And was disgusted that she was forced into that path by a group of psychopaths which he used to be apart off. Hearing the past of Bonnie's childhood made him believe all the more that he made the correct decision in leaving the Militia behind.

"You're right, no child should have to go through that. But, because of my Dad being unjustly slaughtered, I had to adjust to that type of life and fight for survival. As i said I was living on the streets for months, until about my eleventh birthday. Then my fate took a different path, a fate which I thought was better at the time."

Damon wondered. "What do you mean?"

Bonnie returned. "At that point, I was just this thin, skin on the bones, dirt covered just turned eleven years old. I was sleeping in the sidewalk of an alley one day, when this lady approached me. She seemed like the nicest lady at first. All concerned about this girl which she had found on the streets and that girl was me."

" _Oh, you poor thing." The lady had said as she frowned down at Bonnie. "Where are your parents?"_

 _Little Bonnie kept her mouth closed and didn't answer._

" _It's alright, dear I'm just here to help." The lady insisted._

" _I'm…...my parents are dead." Little Bonnie answered shyly._

 _The lady put both of her hands on her heart. "Oh, you poor dear, you must have no one to take care of you. And I can see that from the skin hanging off of your bones that you haven't had anything decent to eat for a while."_

 _Little Bonnie just nodded slightly._

" _My name is Patricia and I hate to see a child living on the streets. Come with me, I'll take care of you and give you a home." Patricia told her._

 _The young Bennett girl hesitated, remembering how her Dad had told her to be careful around strangers._

" _I'll give you food, all the food that you could wish to eat, you'll never have to be hungry with me again if you let me take care of you." Patricia added._

Bonnie commented. "That offer for food, shelter was what convinced me to go along with Patricia. I was out on my own for months, struggling every day to find food and a decent place to sleep. So, despite Patrica being a stranger, I was quick to go into her home. Believing that as a child that things had turned around for the better for me, and I had an adult to care for me since my Dad had died."

Damon could imagine how mourning the loss of her father, and being alone for months, how she would naturally go for the first adult which offered her some kind of parent role.

"I didn't see her as a replacement for my Dad, no one could ever replace him. But, I guess at the time, I saw Patrica as my potential adoptive parent. Just as she said that she would, she took me into her home and she fed me. After the first couple of weeks that I spent living with her, my mood had picked up. Figured that my future was turning out for the better."

She paused. "Patricia didn't live alone, she also had her older brother Greg there as well. I didn't think much of it though, he seemed like a nice, friendly man. For the first three months living with them, things were going very well. I was content and hopeful. Turns out that Patricia and Greg were just luring me into a false sense of hope."

Thoughts ran through Damon's mind as to what she meant.

"I shortly began to notice how Greg was acting towards me, how he would react around me. It had me confused and weirded out, at eleven years old, I didn't know what was going on. Just that something about him wasn't right."

Bonnie stomach churned as she remembered. "The way that he would look at me, and the comments he made towards me, which I knew was inappropriate for a man to say to a kid, It left me feeling uncomfortable and strange."

Damon felt sickened by the direction in which he was going. "You mean to tell me that Greg was a…."

"Pedophile, yeah he was." Bonnie finished in disgust. "And it turns out that his sister aided him in his heinous crimes towards children. She would find homeless or parentless kids on the streets and pretend to take them in out of the goodness of her heart. But, was just setting them up to be victims of her sick brother."

"Were you a victim of his?" Damon was just angered and enraged with the thought.

Bonnie replied. "Almost, I could have been. Thankfully I found a way to stop him, during one of his attempts at me. He tried to molest, then rape me, but I kept finding ways to get away from him and avoid him. He chased me around that house trying to get to me."

"I was so scared, When he grabbed a hold of me, after he caught up, I was desperate and reached for the first thing that I could, to defend myself with. It was a steel bat, I took a swung at him as hard as I could, that was the only way I could get him to let go of me and back off. I kept swinging at him, aimed for his head and before I knew it his blood and brains were scattered everywhere and he was dead. Yet, I took a few more swings at him, just to make sure."

"That pig deserved it and then some for what he tried to do to you." Damon firmly stated.

"I know that he did and although I was traumatized by what he tried and wanted to do towards me, I wasn't remorseful about the actual act of killing him. I wasn't thrilled with killing him, but even at eleven years old I was glad that I did, because it prevented harm and violence being inflicted upon me. That was the first time that I ever killed in self defense." Bonnie muttered.

Damon commented. "I would end up being far from the last for you."

Bonnie repeated. "Far from the last."

Damon had to know. "What happened with Patricia."

"Oh, her." Bonnie's lips curved in a humorless manner. "She came in and discovered the bloody, messy scene I had created. Saw her brother on the ground with his head bashed in and me holding the bat with his brains and blood all over it. She was upset, yelling at me and calling me a bitch for killing her brother."

Damon glowered. "Patricia is the bitch and is equally as guilty as her brother. She earned playing a part in his rightful death."

Bonnie spat out. "I told her in these exact words. That if she attempted to hurt me in any shape or if she didn't back off, that I would kill her and bash her head in just like I did with Greg, even told her I would kill her in her sleep. Being all caught up in the emotions after just getting rid of her brother."

"And she said to this?" He anticipated.

"It got her to back off. I don't know if it was the dangerous look that I had in my eyes or if I had a crazed look in my eyes. Or if it was how serious the tone of my voice was. But, it convinced Patricia to back off and to leave me alone. Despite the fact that I was a child and she was an adult woman, I could tell in the moment, she feared me. And she let me go, because she didn't want me using the bloody, steel bat on her. Which I would have done if she tried to attack me in any way." Bonnie quipped.

"Wish I could have been there to see the look of fear on her cunt face." Damon grumbled.

Bonnie confessed. "It was satisfying, I must admit. I walked out of her home that day and never looked back. Days later, I learned that Greg had been a member of the Militia. He didn't stay on one of their bases or wear the uniform. But, he was a member, more like a rogue member who did outside favors and duties for them. Still had as much belief in their cause as any of the other Militia men do. And Patricia was one of those dutiful women, who believed in standing behind what the men members did."

Damon let out a breath. "Then I can understand more now why you are so against everything in the Militia and didn't trust me at first when you found out that I used to belong to them. First they murder your dad and then one of them tried to rape you, when you were a child. Your feelings and hatred towards them are totally justified."

Bonnie gave a nod. "I still stand by my judgment that the majority of them are remorseless sociopaths."

"Also why you have trust issues and don't trust easily, because you trusted a couple of people and went into their home. Then it turned out to be that they wished you ill will. You hesitated to be open to a person, because the time that you were, it almost caused great physical harm to come to you." Damon connected.

"Exactly, right." Bonnie confirmed.

"Although I'm glad you were able to defend yourself against Greg. I feel sorry for you that you had to lose your innocence as a kid and be made to kill in that situation. It's messed up and it's not fair." Damon mumbled.

Bonnie said. "It's far from fair, however the apocalypse happening made it an unfair world. And I learned that I had to adjust to that. The day that I killed Greg changed my perspective and my outlook on how the world was ran. I knew that I no longer could be that afraid, scared little girl who didn't know what to do without her father around."

"I had to fight and do whatever it took in order to survive, so even while physically in age I was eleven years old, at that point I grew up in a since mentally and emotionally. And started to toughen up my attitude, I would kill if I had to, but only as a last resort or in defending myself. I soon learned that items and goods could be traded for food and supplies. And became a smuggler at a young age. By the time that I was thirteen, I was deep into the smuggling game and was on the way to becoming an expert smuggler."

"I have to tell you that I'm impressed, despite the terrible circumstances surrounding your situation, you managed to take it and turn it into you becoming a survivor of the strongest. Not many people would be able to create a survival story out of that." Damon mufttered.

"And I repeat, I look back at times and wondered how in the world I managed to make it this far alive, I did though. I did what I needed to do to live, as we all do." Bonnie pointed out.

He fully agreed with. "Just one other thing."

She eyed him. "Yes?"

He went on. "If you don't mind telling me, on the night that your Dad got murdered, how did you manage to make it out alive, being in that room with the General and the rest of his men. Did they let you go?"

"Far from it." Bonnie shook her head. "They show no mercy to anyone, children included. So, I'm not alive today out of the goodness of their heart. I got out, because somehow I was lucky enough to escape, being outnumbered by all of those men. I barely escaped by the skin of my teeth, but I did."

Once more Bonnie flashed back, as she recalled her memories to Damon.

 _The General and the other men stormed up to the closet and opened the door, seeing Little Bonnie standing there._

 _Little Bonnie, who was shaken from just seeing her Dad shot in the head, cowered back from the men._

 _The General's eyes glittered with evil to send a shiver down her spine. "Well, Well, Well, look what we have here, it's a kid. What is your name little girl?"_

 _Her ten year old self, kept her mouth buttoned up, as tears with the mixture of fear and grief began to spill out of her eyes._

 _The General seemed amused by her tears. "Answer me what is your name?"_

 _Little Bonnie shook her head as her bottom lip trembled._

" _Is something wrong with your hearing girl, I asked you a question." The General snapped out._

" _Please, don't kill me." Was all that she could croak out._

 _The General laughed at her in a mocking manner, encouraging the others to join in._

" _Not to worry, I won't kill you. How would you like to go to our camp. Raise you up to clean, cook, and do the laundry like all women should." The General touted._

" _I do go with strangers." Little Bonnie said in a trembling voice._

" _Guess what brat, you don't have a choice." The General reached and forcefully took a hold of her arm. "Not get your ass out of that closet."_

 _This had Little Bonnie going into full blown panic mode, afraid that they were going to shoot her in the head as they just did her dad or take her some place that was bad. She in fear and desperation grabbed a hold of the nearest thing to her with her free hand, it was a pair of scissors that had been in the closet._

 _She used the sharp end of the scissors and aimed it as the General's face. The blade of the scissors cut a deep gash that went from just below his eye, all the way down to the top of his lip._

 _In pain the General let her go and grabbed a hold of his face, where she had cut him. This shocked all of the other men standing around and as they were distracted gawking at their leader, as he screamed in pain, with blood pouring out of the gash._

 _Little Bonnie took the moment to escape, quick as a cat she crawled between the men's legs, until she was through them. Then jumped up and ran towards the front door._

 _The General yelled out in anger as blood leaked through his fingers. "What are you idiots doing, kill her right now!"_

 _The other men went after her, as Bonnie bursted through the front door. She circled her way around the house and ran into the backyard. The men chased her out of the house, as the General stood there clutching at the bleeding, wounded side of his face, yelling at them to get her._

 _His Militiamen were close on her heels as they chased her. Little Bonnie ran into the woods, as darkness surrounded her. She really couldn't see where she was going but just kept running. The other men shot after her and bullets whizzed by her body, barely missing her. She ran and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. She was far enough ahead of them where she couldn't see them in the darkness of the night, but could tell that they were close behind her from the sounds of their voices._

 _Little Bonnie could tell that they were gaining on her, so she took a sharp turn left and ran some more. Cries wanting to well up in her throat, but she knew that she couldn't make a sound or it would give away exactly where she was. She came up on a embankment and went down it a few feet, then saw a hole in the side of the ground. She quickly climbed into that hole, getting dirt and mud all over her clothes, she used the branches of the small tree which was in front of the hole for extra cover. The tree has thick leaves and one would have to move the branches to the side to know that a hole was there._

 _Little Bonnie held her breath not wanting to give herself away. A minute later there was the sound of heavy footsteps belonging to those who were chasing her down. Little Bonnie's heart was pounding and she was breathing heavily. She put her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making a sound._

" _Damn it, where did the little runt go off too?" One of them asked from above her._

 _It appeared that between the position of the embankment, the hole that she was in, and the darkness of the night that they couldn't see her and didn't know where she was._

" _She couldn't have gotten away that far." One of the others said._

" _Should we just keep searching for her then?" Yet another one of them asked._

 _There was a pause. "Nah, let's turn back. She's out there in the wild now, no way she'll be able to survive through the elements. She is just a child. Either she will go hungry until she dies or a wild animal will get to her."_

 _With that the footsteps of the men sounded off in the other direction, until they disappeared altogether. Little Bonnie just heard the sound of her heavy breathing and the nighttime creatures making noise around her. However, she didn't hear the men. It seemed they had left and given up on chasing her._

 _Still she stayed there in that hole for a while longer, to stay hidden just in case they were nearby and tried to lure her into a false sense of security by drawing her out, then catching her. Hours went by and she stayed crunched up in that hole and didn't hear them around. She stayed in place in that hole for the longest time, until daylight broke on the following morning._

"...that's how I manage to escape and get away from them. By the time I had left the hole, they were long gone and had moved on. Assuming that I would just end up getting lost out in the wild and die because of the elements. I just kept walking as far away from my house as I could get. I knew that my Dad's dead body was back there, but didn't go back because it was too late, he was dead. Plus, even though at that point I figured that the General and his men were long gone, I didn't want to go back to the house in case more Militiamen came by." Bonnie finished.

After she was done telling her story a realization came to Damon and he connected an event in his mind. "Wait, when you said that you slashed that General in his face with the scissors what side did you slash him on?"

"The right side of his face I believe, why does that matter?" She was perplexed by his question.

"Damn." Damon eye's widened as it hit him.

"Damon? Why are you reacting in such a way? Why does it matter what side I slashed the General's face on?" Bonnie furrowed her brow.

"Because Bonnie, I believe that the General who you slashed wasn't just any General. Shit, fucking shit, I think that you face slashed none other than Alaric." Damon revealed in disbelief.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thanks to all of those who left feedback and have reviewed/read/supported this story so far. It is much appreciated!**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I made.**


	10. Chapter 10

There was a long pause as Bonnie's mind tried to catch up with the bombshell that Damon had just dropped on her. Trying to comprehend what he had just told her.

After a while of her not saying anything Damon spoke. "Hey, Bonnie did you hear what I just said?"

Bonnie blinked to break herself out of it. "Yeah, you just hinted that the General of the Militia I mentioned, wasn't just a random general, but Alaric himself."

"Right, it's what I think." Damon confirmed.

"That's insane, Damon." Bonnie gawked.

"I know it's crazy." He shook his head. "I didn't even realize it until you mentioned the last part about how you slashed The General in the face with the knife to escape. But, now it hits me that we may have had something in common earlier in our lives than we ever thought and that something is Alaric."

Bonnie said slowly to try and understand. "So, you really believe the same pig who abused and tormented you as a child was also responsible for the death of my Dad and therefore the struggle that I had to survive as a child."

Damon frowned. "I believe that he could be, I mean brutally executing a person the way that The General did your dad, is right up Alaric's ally. And he was known for murdering many people in the same fashion. It's also now that I remember back how it fits with the timeline of my own childhood."

She went. "Then please…..explain to me how you believe our time lines as children, could be connected to me stabbing the General."

Damon began. "Well, I remember back to the time that I was twelve and it was one of the clearest memories I have as a child about Alaric."

Bonnie knew that he was two years older than her, so he would have been twelve when she was ten.

"Alaric wanted me to go on a mission with him. But, I figured that it was going to be one of those missions which usually ended up with people killed or hurt. Knew that Alaric would make me kill someone and throw me into the pit if I didn't comply. So, to avoid both, I had to come up with a plan to avoid going." Damon muttered.

"How exactly did you avoid going on the mission. Knowing how Alaric forced you into such things with his abuse over you?" Bonnie wished to know.

"I knew that the only way I could avoid going is if I did something extreme." Damon stated.

"So, what did you do?" Bonnie wondered.

Damon returned. "I forced myself to be sick basically, I knew that if I just told him I was sick that he wouldn't believe me and just say I was making an excuse not to go on a mission. So, I drunk something I knew would get me sick and threw up right in front of him."

Bonnie said. "And let me guess you getting sick didn't earn any sympathy from your so called adoptive father."

Damon confirmed. "Nope, not at all. A kid vomiting would get most decent parents concerned and just wanting to make their child feel better. But, Alaric he screamed and yelled at me for making a mess, called me too weak to go on a mission with him and his men. Even though he gave me a verbal lashing I was relieved not to go on the mission with him."

A twelve year old boy shouldn't have to force himself to be sick just to avoid being around a person. Once again she felt sorry for what he had went through in his childhood. "I understand where you are coming from and can't blame you for it."

"Going on to the connection that I mentioned between what happened in to your father and Alaric. " He continued. "I didn't know exactly the details of the mission or the exact location, however I did know that they were going some place up North and our base was located in California."

"The state of Washington is North of California." She began connecting the pieces to the direction that Damon was going.

"Right, Alaric, along with the men he took with him were gone for about a handful of weeks. Now before he left his face was clean, meaning he didn't have any injuries or bruises on it. When he returned from that mission through, he had a nasty gash under his eye. As if it had been cut by something sharp." Damon explained.

"On the right side of his face, just below his eye." Bonnie swallowed.

Damon let out a long breath. "Now, that just could be a coincidence, that you happened to have slashed a General's face with a pair of scissors and Alaric came back with a gash in the exact location where you said that you stabbed that man."

It washed over Bonnie, as she connected the last pieces of the puzzle. "No, it's not a coincidence, the timeline of what happened back then. The fact that you said they were going up a mission up North. Alaric returning to your camp base with a wound exactly where I cut that General at. I believe you may be right."

Damon pressed his lips together in grim silence.

Bonnie kept on. "It all fits perfectly together. I don't know what Alaric looks like of course. But, from the demeanor that you describe him as when he abused you, it's the exact same cold and heartless demeanor that the General had when he killed my Dad execution style. How he reacted towards me after he had murdered my Dad, I believe, I know now that he was the one who had my Dad's blood on his hands during that awful night."

"And you gave him exactly what he deserved once you slashed him in his face with that knife." Damon said.

"I didn't slash him enough in time to save my Dad." Bonnie's lips curved sadly.

""But, you did do it in enough time to defend yourself and escape. That is what matters. You cut him so deep that he still has the scar on his face on this day." Damon mentioned.

"Does he." Bonnie mumbled.

Damon pointed out. "It's one of those scar where one gets hurt so severely that it never completely goes away, he has a permanent scar there because of what you did to him."

Bonnie sighed, "You know at some point in the future it might give me some satisfaction to know that I wounded the pig so badly, yet at this moment I'm too into the emotion of learning that Alaric of all people murdered my loved one in cold blood."

He wanted to reach out to her in comfort. but spoke instead "For what it's worth, I think that having the scar on his face really bothers his ego and pride, being the vain, narcissistic man he is."

"I hope that is does, so it forever be a reminder to him of what happens when a person fights back against his terror." Bonnie lashed out

"Believe me it is, ever since he returned from that mission with that nasty cut on his face, I could tell it hit his pride and ego. As if he was embarrassed and shamed on how he got it, now I know why." Damon commented.

"Really, you're not just saying that to make me feel better." Bonnie made it sound like half way between a question and a statement.

Damon glanced at her. "I'm not, I know that's how he acted, because I asked him how he had gotten the cut on his face, just hours after he returned from the mission. He reacted towards me in an aggressive manner and it wasn't just because he was being his usual abusive self towards me, there was something more in his reaction."

" _How did you get hurt, what happened to your face?" A twelve year old Damon asked, just out of curiosity._

" _Shut up and mind your own damn business boy." Alaric barked in anger as he backhanded Damon across the face, so hard that it made the twelve year old's lip bust open._

"He responded to my question as if he were ashamed of the reason of how the deep cut got on his face. Like he was humiliated by it and now I know why, it was because for once his attempts at overpowering and overtaking someone had failed. He wanted to use his violence and intimidation tactics on you in order to force you to do his bidding and it backfired." Damon pointed out.

"Good, then I hope he still feels humiliated to this day about what I did to him." Bonnie sneered.

Damon shifted slightly. "I'm sure that he does. I could remember eavesdropping on a conversation that he had with the other top leaders of our Militia group about the mission. Men who weren't with him."

" _Some coward snuck up on me while I wasn't looking and cheap shotted me, cutting me in the face with a knife. But, I still killed him because I'm a Militia man and we are superior to all other men." Alaric told the others as they sat around the table._

 _Twelve year old Damon was behind a wall listening in._

Bonnie scoffed. "The nerve of that pig, he flat out lied about a grown man injuring him when he knew it wasn't the truth."

Damon rolled his eyes. "He twisted the facts, because he couldn't handle the truth of what really went down. And told those which were with him on the mission that they better not ever speak on what really happened."

"Being the misogynistic bastard that he is, being outsmarted and outmaneuvered by a female would have enraged him on the inside and harmed his pride. Not just by a female, but by a ten year old girl at that. You wounded him not just physically, but deeper on an mental level." Damon murmured.

"I hope that he sees the scar everyday on his face and always be reminded of the little girl who kicked his ass, that little girl being be especially." Bonnie smirked coolly.

"Believe me, knowing Alaric it bothers him, even if he refuses to admit it." Damon told her.

"And he's responsible for the cold blooded murder of my Dad. And the complete reason why my life fell apart and came crashing down at ten years old. The reason why I had to be out starving in the streets and in the wild, afraid that I was going to die. Everything which went wrong in my life after that point was started by Alaric." There was pure bitterness in her tone.

A bitterness which Damon felt as well towards the man. "I already hate him for what he has done to me. However, knowing the pain he caused you when he killed your dad, I would hunt him down just to behead him for it."

The Bennett woman punched the air in her growing rage, she wished that Alaric had been on the other end of her fist so that she could break his nose with it. "I completely agree with you on what you just said, I would no doubt kill him if I ever saw his face again."

Then another thought entered into Damon's mind and he cursed at himself. "Now I need to tell you I'm sorry for your life falling apart on that night."

"You're sorry." Bonnie looked at him. "Why are you making it sound like you personally did something wrong in relation to that night."

"Because I am. And I'm sorry" Damon huffed out.

"In the hell, what are you apologizing for, Damon?" Bonnie questioned in perplexity.

A brooding expression entered into his icy blue eyes. "I was suppose to go on that particular mission, remember?"

She returned. "Yeah and so what if you were?"

Damon hinted. "Yet I stayed behind."

Bonnie still didn't understand. "I still don't get why you are apologizing."

"Well, if I did go after all perhaps things would have turned out differently." Damon grumbled.

"How so." Bonnie moved her head from side to side in a negative fashion.

"Your Dad could have still been alive maybe if I just had done something differently." Damon expressed.

She furrowed her brows. "How in the world do you figure such a thing."

He shrugged. "Maybe if I had gone, I could have been there to stop them from murdering your father."

Bonnie blinked in disbelief. "Are you serious, you're feeling bad about a situation which you had zero control over."

He nodded. "I didn't go because I chickened out, could of and now should of."

"You didn't go with good reason and as I said I can't blame you for that...What exactly did you think you were suppose to do predict that Alaric and his crew were going to go and kill my Dad in cold blood." Bonnie gestured.

"I already knew that they were most likely going to murder at least one person on their mission, it's their MO and why I made myself sick on purpose not to go in the first place." Damon rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yet, you still had no idea that they were going to come to my house specifically and do what they did." Bonnie point.

Groaning, Damon went. "No, but If I had gone with them, I could have been there to do something to stop them."

Turning her lips downward, Bonnie went. "Like what?"

Damon threw his hands up. "I don't know, anything to make sure that your Dad stayed alive. Physically stop them from doing what they did."

"Come on, Damon. You're being ridiculous." Bonnie quipped out.

"Bonnie….." Damon started.

"Let me remind you that you were a child back then, just like I was. Only two years older than me at twelve." Bonnie interrupted.

Damon sighed. "I know that, but…"

Bonnie cut him off again. "Even if you had of gone with them, you would still be outnumbered by Alaric and his men. As a kid, do you realistically think that you would be able to fight off a bunch of men who were taller, bigger and stronger than you at the time with the intent on killing."

He knew that she had a point.

"We both know that even if you had tried to stop them, they would have used their numbers, along with their size and strength advantage over you to restrain you. Then they would have still murdered by father anyway, regardless if you tried to protest or prevent their actions in that night." Bonnie added.

"You're absolutely correct, I wouldn't have been able to stop them no matter what, certainly not since I was a child then." Damon commented.

"Now I don't want to dare hear you utter even a thought about having guilt for the murder of my Dad. You were just a boy and had no control over those grown Militiamen. So, you better not ever think about blaming yourself for what happened again, you understand me Damon Salvatore." Bonnie's tone was firm.

His lips curved upward slightly. "Yes, Yes I hear you and I won't ever think about blaming myself for what happened to your father again."

She softened her voice. "Good, besides of knowing that they still would have murdered by Dad, even if you had been there. I know if you had attempted to intervene that Alaric would have punished you for it, since he tortured you all throughout your childhood. Just as he did with anytime that you disobeyed him. He would have put you in the pit or beaten you as punishment."

Damon agreed. "He would have dragged me back to the pit and made me stay there for days, if I went against him on that mission."

Bonnie briefly touched a hand to Damon's shoulder. "Then on top of them murdering my Dad, you would have been severely physically punished. And put in that pit, maybe he would have left you there to die and that would he the last thing that I would want to happen when I was ten, and the last thing I would want to happen now. Especially since if you had died back then, I wouldn't have you sitting here as my friend today."

"I'm glad that I'm here with you too." Damon stated touched.

"The main one that I blame for the slaughter of my Dad is the General and now I have learned Alaric was that General. He is one hundred percent at fault for the pain he caused when I lost my Dad." Bonnie moved on.

"He is one twisted son of a bitch, who gets off on preying on the weak and defenseless. Hiding behind his Militia and using them as his source to gain power to make himself feel like a man." Damon sneered sharing in her bitterness.

"Alaric is far from a man and is closer to a cowardly snake, who uses cruel, evil tactics to cover up for the fact that he has an inferiority complex. He thrives off of the fear and pain of others because he is nothing but a pig inside and out." Her anger was working itself back up.

"A pig who is deep down nothing but a true coward, uses the Militia to build himself up, Murders people to spread intimidation of him every where that he goes and uses it to force people to do things against their will. The bastard gets some sort of sick thrill off of causing pain and heartbreak on others, like he truly enjoys it." Damon stated in disgust.

"And that is exactly why the scum of the earth abused and tormented you as a child. He knew that he had the strength advantage over you and did so because it made him feel powerful and strong." Bonnie snipped.

Damon's face was reddened with anger towards the man which they were discussing. "Yeah, he wouldn't have the guts to face anyone one on one, or at least without a group of his men backing him up."

Bonnie said. "He gives me the vibe of a type of man who would abuse women and children, but then back down from a fist fight against a man of his equal size and strength."

Her vibe was correct, Damon thought. He never recalled Alaric actually facing a man of equal size and strength in one on one hand combat. When he did go against a man, it was always with a weapon or him ganging up on the man with a group of his Militiamen backing him up, just like what had happened on the night in which he murdered Bonnie's father.

"For as me as he put me through as a kid, he's responsible for the pain and struggling which you went through in your childhood and that makes him irredeemable. Not that I found him redeemable before, but this seals the deal on my hate and rage about him." Damon mumbled.

"He was already an unforgivable man the second that he decided to emotionally, mentally, and physically cause harm to you as a child. I will always hate him for taking my Dad out of my life and wouldn't forgive him in a thousand years for it. He is the number one cause for the pain and suffering in both of our child hoods which is unacceptable." Bonnie muttered.

"Kind of a terrible circumstance for us to have in common of the same man who completely screwed us over and caused us as kids to go into a painful down spiral. " Damon gave a humorless half smile.

"It's truly unfortunate because neither of us deserved what the pig put us through. However, also knowing that we have this connection, which happened so early in both of our lives can be used as a good thing." Bonnie mentioned.

Damon eyed her. "Really, how so?"

Bonnie brought up. "We can use the cause for our shared painful childhoods to support each other and have our relationship grow stronger over it."

Damon nodded. "I agree the only single positive result of Alaric interfering in both of our lives is that it will make the bond between us even stronger."

"Yes, I have no doubts that we can use our pasts to make our bond rock solid, and never to be broken. Something which will make our friendship last forever and beyond." Bonnie agreed.

"I still hate what he did to you still." Damon said.

"As I hate what he did to you, but then that's a sign about how much we care for each other. Being able to feel empathy for what the other went through." Bonnie quietly told him.

Damon whispered. "Still I regret your Dad being murdered by my so called adoptive Dad. Not because I feel guilt as if it were my fault. But, because I do indeed care for you."

Bonnie gazed at him. "I know that, Damon."

Damon added. "Just if you ever need to lean on me about what happened in your childhood, know that I'm always here to listen twenty four hours in a day and seven days a week."

Those words made the heartbreak of reliving her past come through, which allowed her to open up more emotionally. "I've never completely moved on from what happened to my Dad. He died years ago, yet often it feels like yesterday when I lost him. It still hurts a lot and I just can't move on from it."

He heard the sorrow in her voice and it made his heart break for her. "There isn't a time table or a rule when it comes to the length of mourning a loved one passing away. Especially when they are murdered like yours was. Whether its months or years, people mourn for what's right for them. So don't feel like you should put it behind you, because it happened years back. You take a long as you need to mourn and grieve."

"I still miss him a lot." Her emerald greens welled up with tears. She made no attempt to hide them or brush them away. Because she didn't feel ashamed of showing this type of emotion in front of him.

"You know what." Damon reached out and put a comforting hand on hers.

"What?" Bonnie sniffled.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure if there is a heaven. If there is one though, I know that your Dad is up there looking down on you." Damon told her.

"You really believe so." Bonnie returned.

"Yes, I believe so. He would be up in the big sky watching over you through every step you have made it your life," Damon was sincere.

She gulped with emotion. "Then if that is the case, it does give me some comfort knowing that he is in a better place, away from the cruelty of this world."

Which was his goal in telling her that her father was in heaven at this very moment. "And you know what else."

She wondered. "What else?"

As Damon spoke, he meant every word that he told her next. "You dealt with a major setback in your life when your Dad was murdered. And that might defeat a lot of people, but it didn't defeat you. You took an horrific event which happened to you and moved forward, you survived and became a strong, badassed woman."

"You grow to learn how to fend for yourself and became the biggest of fighters. And more so from the inside you are this compassionate, kind, woman who can feel empathy despite what she went through. And it results in you in the present being this tough, brilliant woman. And you know what I truly admire you for that, Bonnie Bennett."

"Wow, you have no idea how much what you just told me, moved and touched me. Those are such kind words." Bonnie gave him a warm look through her teary eyes.

"Well, I mean every bit of it. You know in the long run, despite what Alaric did to you, you became a bigger person than he ever could dream of being." Damon finished.

A couple of tears spilled over and rolled down her cheeks. "I still loathe the rat for destroying most of childhoods."

Inching closer to her, Damon wrapped an arm around her in an one armed hug as a way to offer her support.

She leaned towards his body, completely accepting the physical support which he offered, as his one armed hug comforted her.

"Trust me, one day Alaric will pay a dear price for the pain that he cost us, he'll be ruined eventually, I promise you that. Karma is going to catch up to the bastard one way or another." Damon finished in a harsh tone. And he hoped that the karma would catch up one day soon.

She couldn't immediately fall asleep, because she was high off of the emotions of reliving her past. That was no problem for Damon, he just stayed up with her all night until she could go to sleep and then fall to sleep himself.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

A week passed by and they keep on forward with their track on foot. Because of her learning that Alaric murdered her Dad and her having to go over again what happened that in the terrible event, Damon knew that the emotion of it weighed heavily on her. So, just like she did for him when he relived his childhood, he focused on lightening up her mood and lifting her spirits.

He did so by doing and saying things which he knew would make her laugh. And if worked since after a couple of days, her mood was back up and she was feeling lighthearted and content because of him. She would always mourn her Dad, but having Damon around helped her out a lot. And she was just glad that she had such a great friend around.

Now on the current day, after spending the first hours of the day walking, they had stopped to rest for some hours. They sat down and ate a shared meal of lunch today, along with a drink of some water. Afterwards they still sat to relax and rest for a while, before they would spend the next half of the day walking until nighttime fell.

The both of them spent this relaxation time reading their books, which they had gotten from the book store. Bonnie was just finishing up the last few chapters of 'It', when she looked up noticing that Damon seemed to be really into a magazine that he was reading.

"What are you reading over there?" Bonnie questioned out of interest.

"I'm reading up on this article on professional wrestling." Damon answered.

"You're into wrestling?" Bonnie arched a brow.

Damon scanned over the article, which had pictures of wrestlers to go along with it. "I have been since I have been reading some of the magazines that I picked up from Barnes and Noble."

Bonnie just said. "Oh, okay."

Damon chattered on. "You know it's a very entertaining. Like how the WCW and the WWF used to compete."

Bonnie guessed. "The WCW, WWF, they were wrestling companies."

Damon popped. "Yep."

She folded the tip of the page in order to bookmark her spot. "And what did they compete in."

"Monday Night wars. Back when TV was still as thing, around the mid to late 1990's. They would compete for ratings. WCW was winning at first, then the WWF did the kick ass attitude era and they took over in the ratings war. Which would eventually lead to the WCW dying as a company." Damon informed.

"That's….something else. Is there anything else that caught your interest in those wrestling magazines." Bonnie closed up her book.

"You bet." He rattled on very excited. "Like learning about who the best wrestlers were. From what I read I'm trying to decide on who the best wrestler of all time was, maybe between Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan."

Bonnie was amused. "Uh huh."

Damon pressed on. "Then there was a dude named Triple H."

Bonnie arched both of her brows. "Triple H, what does that stand for."

"Hunter Hearst Helmsley." Damon let her know.

"Who in the world would name their kid that name." Bonnie made a face.

"It's a wrestling name, duh." Damon waved a hand.

"Oh, I see." Bonnie pursed her lips.

Damon fanned the magazine that he was holding. "He was World Champion a bunch of times, according to an article I read though some only think that he won so many times because he had an advantage."

Bonnie cocked her head to the side. "You're going to tell me what that advantage was."

Cupping his hand over his mouth, Damon leaned in and lowered his voice. As if he were trying to keep a secret for no one else to hear, even though there was no one else around but the two of them. "Because he was married to the bosses daughter. Some think that it's the main reason why he was able to win so many championships. Because he had dated and married into the boss's family, becoming the favorite. Some in the locker room didn't like that and some wrestling fans didn't like it either."

She clucked her tongue. "Sounds like it was quite the scandal."

Damon added. "Plus he became one of the CEO's of the WWE later on, so it turns out marrying the boss's daughter does have it's advantages."

She chuckled slightly. "I have to say that I'm glad you found something of interest to you in those magazines, as a way of passing the time when we rest."

"Would you like to read this, I'm almost done with this one." Damon showed her the cover, which had some tag team duo on it, looking out with similar menacing expressions in their faces.

"Nah, you do you though." Bonnie redirected.

"Sure that it wouldn't be of some interest to you?" Damon asked.

"I'm good, out of all of our shared common things in which we are interested in, professional wrestling interest one of them." Bonnie replied.

Damon wondered. "Why not, have you ever seen a wrestling match to know you aren't interested."

Bonnie said. "Of course not, neither of us has seen a wrestling match obviously. But, it's just not my cup of tea."

Damon returned. "From what I read it's a great sport."

"Which is the problem." Bonnie commented. "Professional wrestling is far from a sport."

"How can you say that?" Damon asked.

"Hate to break it to you, Damon but wrestling is totally fake." Bonnie playfully patted him on the shoulder.

"Nonsense, it isn't fake." Damon pouted.

She smirked. "It is, none of the crap that they did back then was even real."

He squinted. "Blasphemy, don't speak down on an epic era called professional wrestling."

She quirked. "Trust me, I wouldn't lie to you about something like that, because what would the point be."

"To kid around with me." Damon hinted with a slight smirk.

"I'm not kidding around with you." Bonnie returned.

"Oh, yeah then how can you tell wrestling is fake, if you weren't yet born at the time that it existed, Bennett." He made a goofy face towards her.

"Because I heard passing by a place when I was smuggling, Salvatore." She laughed.

Damon made a verbal sound like he didn't believe her. "Hmmmm."

Bonnie insisted. "It's true, I was smuggling items for goods in Nevada and there was this man in his sixties, who lived at a time before the world went to shit. He was a prepper, one of those people who stacked up on years worth of food and water because he believed that a apolypolatic like event would happen. People called him paranoid, for storing away all of that food near in his home. They were living comfortably before the machine went haywire and no one believed that the world would ever be as it was now."

"Turns out that he was right and his prepping was why he was able to survive what happened and make it to sixty years old."

He gave her a look of confusion as to ask her why she was telling him this, when the discussion was about wrestling.

"My bad, I just thought that his story was interesting and wanted to mention it…..anyway back on the subject. The prepper was a huge fan of wrestling. He had a bunch of wrestling action figures in his shop. Told me that even though he was a wrestling fan, professional wrestling was fake and it was all scripted storyline wise. Hate to burst your bubble there."

"Bummer, you party pooper." Damon's tone was lighthearted.

"Hey, the moves that they do are supposedly somewhat real and dangerous. But, the rest all fantasy." Bonnie said.

"It's still real to me, damn it." Damon joked pretending to be disappointed.

"Ha Ha, sure." Bonnie teased him.

He jutted out his chin. "Well, I'm still going to be a big fan of professional wrestling, so there."

She shrugged good natureturly. "Cool, if you have the same tastes as a kid."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Hey, do you enjoy raining on my parade."

"Let's see." Bonnie tapped her chin. "Yes, I do."

"Not nice." Damon waved his finger at her.

"I much prefer a actual real fighting, like the underground fight club I used to attend when I was sixteen. There men punch, kick and hit each other. And it can be brutal, but useful." Bonnie mentioned.

"You ever participated in your fight yourself in that underground fight club, Bon-Bon." Damon became curious.

Bonnie rubbed her arm. "There were some women vs women battles as well, but no I didn't fight in it myself. However, I did make bets on who would win the matches and when I did, I earned enough to fed me for a good solid month."

Damon was once again impressive with her. "You are always resourceful."

She directed. "When you're in a situation of surviving, you'll find every way that you can in order to get food, water and goods to sustain yourself. As I was saying the fight club had actual blood spilling and teeth getting knocked out of mouths. Unlike the fakeness of professional wrestling."

Playfully he poked her forearm with his finger. "You're going to stop dissing wrestling."

"What are you going to do if I don't." Bonnie snuck out her tongue at him.

"Don't make me tickle you into begging for mercy once again." Damon snickered.

"Oh no, the tickle monster, whatever will I do." She dramatically brought her hands to her chest.

Damon puffed out his chest. "I'll show you how real wrestling can be."

Bonnie paused. "Wow…..is that a challenge Salvatore."

Mumbling, Damon fought off a smile. "Could be."

"Could be or is." She challenged.

"It is." Damon declared.

"What you're saying is that you're challenging me to a wrestling match." Bonnie delivered.

"As a matter of fact I am." Damon confirmed.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Seriously, what am I going to do with you."

Damon gave her a wicked grin. "What's wrong too chicken to accept the match."

She snorted in return. "Please, I'm far from chicken."

"Prove it then, let's have a wrestling match right now." Of course he only meant a playful match and not a serious one, he just figured that it would be something fun the two of them could do to pass the time.

"Fine, if you want your ass to be kicked." Bonnie jumped to her feet.

"Bring it on, Bennett." Damon jumped to his feet as well.

"It's already brought." She showed him her teeth, in a humor sort of way.

He just smirked at that.

She placed her hands on her hips. "If we are going to go through with this match then something needs to be on the line."

Damon arched his eyebrows. "Like what, we don't have any championship belts."

Bonnie suggested. "I have a taste for meat and the only way we can get some meat is through hunting. So, how about the loser has to hunt for our next meal when the opportunity is arises. Whether that be rabbit, squirrel or whichever wild critter we happen to come up on."

"Alright, I can deal with the loser having to hunt for our dinner tonight." Damon accepted.

"Not just hunt, but the loser has to kill the animal with my bow and arrow." Bonnie pointed.

"Come on, you know that I'm not experienced with the bow and arrow like you are." This time Damon snorted.

"Guess I'll have to give you a crash course then, once you lose that is." Bonnie simply stated.

Damon ran a hand through his dark locks. ""Yeah, I might still suck though. My chances at success would be much higher if I could use my rifle."

Bonnie mocked the noise of a chicken. "Afraid to accept the challenge of using an bow and arrow."

He folded his arms over his chest. "Nope, not afraid. Besides I won't have to, because you're going to be the one to lose the match."

Taking a set forward she went. "Prove it then Mister, this was your idea afterall."

"Alright, but good luck in hunting for our dinner tonight." Damon said.

"Yeah, sure. Can we get started." Bonnie faked a yawn.

"We'll get started, but we should do entrances first." Damon put in.

Bonnie wrinkled her nose in an adorable way. "Entrances."

Damon added. "Entrances, you can't have a decent match without them."

She slapped a hand against her forehead. "Good grief, you are really taking this wrestling deal far."

"Hey, it will be fun." Damon insisted with a grin.

"You go ahead and do your entrance, I'll just wait here." Bonnie chuckled.

"Okay, prepared to be beaten by the destroyer." Damon returned dramatically.

Again she rolled her eyes in a light hearted nature at the wrestling moniker he had given to himself.

Then Damon proceeded to do his entrance, which included him pretending that there was a music theme playing. Then he did some sort of cocky wrestling pose.

Amused nearly to the point of laughter, she said "This man." Under her breath.

When he was done, he turned to her. "Now we can get this match started."

"I'm so going to win." Was her response.

So, the two of them started their wrestling match, which wasn't an actual serious match, but still something the two of them wanted to win. They just went with their best guess of what they thought wrestling moves were, even though neither had seen an actual professional wrestling match.

Damon proceeded to mimic doing wrestling moves on her, without actually doing them. Because this was a pretend match and they were messing around with each other, so he took extra care to avoid doing her any type of physical harm. He pretended to do moves such as the bodyslam and the back breaker.

For someone who wasn't impressed with the notion of professional wrestling, Bonnie was getting into their play match. She was having fun, while at the same time trying to find a way to beat him. Damon then lifted her up over his head with ease, since she was so petite and held her up there in the air.

"Let me down right now you foe." Bonnie half giggled.

"Not a chance, I'm the destroyer." Damon chuckled.

So, she kicked out her legs, until she was able to slip out of Damon's grasp. Which made her fall towards the ground.

This briefly startled Damon and he caught her before she landed on the ground. "Whoa, be careful." He placed her on her feet.

"I'm plenty careful." Bonnie then took him to the ground.

"Wow, I just kept you from falling on your ass and this is how you repay me." Damon widened his ocean blue eyes.

"You were the one who lifted me in the air and I did it on purpose knowing that you would catch me." Bonnie was now hovering over him. She tried to pin him to the ground. "Now, I'm going to defeat you."

Before she could blink, he quickly flipped them over so that he was on top. "Not so fast there."

This time it was her eyes that widened as he move had caught her off guard, but only for the moment.

The two of them then rolled around on the ground, play wrestling and trying to outmove the other. All while laughing. Finally, after a few minutes of this going on, Bonnie managed to outmaneuver him and she put him in an arm bar type of move.

"You give up now,Salvatore." Bonnie demanded.

"No way." Damon refused.

"Do it now or I'll be forced to break your arm." Bonnie's tone was that of a person kidding around.

"Okay, Okay, I tap, I tap out." Damon laughed.

Bonnie wanted to make sure. "You give up?"

Damon acknowledged. "Yes."

Bonnie released his arm, quickly jumping to her feet. "Hell yeah, victory is mine."

He stayed where he was on the ground, looking up at her. "You got lucky is all."

"Right." Bonnie dragged out the word.

"I went easy on you." He shifted on his knees and leaned back some. "I let you win."

"No, need to be a sore loser." Bonnie teased.

"Ha." Damon snorted.

Her expression was triumphed. "So, that means you're hunting down dinner for us tonight, hope that you can pick an animal with some meat on it's bones."

Standing, he brushed the dirt off of his pants. "Fair is fair and you don't win, but I'll still need to learn how to use the bow and arrow better."

"Fine, I'll give you a crash course, as I said I would." Bonnie grinned.

"I'll think I will need all the pointers that I can get." His tone was still filled with laughter and he had zero problems with losing to her.

"Pay close attention." Bonnie grabbed her bow and arrow.

He did pay close attention as she showed, taught him how to use her weapon. And later, after a few tries, he managed to hunt them down their meal for that night.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Two days later they were making their way down a very narrow dirt road and having conversation with each other, as they often did while traveling.

"Whew, it really is hot out here." Damon wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"Yes, it is, but we are in the middle of summer, in Texas so it is common for it to be this hot, during this time of the year." Bonnie commented.

"I know, still it's a scorcher. Must be at least ninety degrees" Damon stated.

"Over hundred even, I would say but yeah it is pretty darn hot." Bonnie deadpanned.

Damon huffed. "This heat caused me to have to get rid of the lovely leather jacket that I had gotten, it was too hot to wear it around."

Bonnie glanced at his muscular arms, with it bulging biceps that were exposed by the short sleeve shirt he was wearing. "Yeah, leather and extreme heat don't go together very well."

He sighed. "Had to decide between fashion and not overheating. Not overheating ended up winning."

She pursed her lips. "I'm sure that you could find another leather jacket one day, to wear in more fitting weather."

"I just prefer for the current weather to cool down, I'm sweating buckets right now." Said Damon.

She saw the front of his shirt damp with his sweat. "You're not kidding on that part. Up there is some trees, we can get under the shade, take a break and drink some water."

Damon looked ahead to the large group of trees which were yards away. "Sounds like a great idea."

Walking slightly ahead of him, she headed towards those trees.

Noticing that his boots were untied, Damon paused in his steps to bend down and tie them.

Which had Bonnie getting ahead of him as she continued to walk.

When he had finished tying up his boots, she was about fifteen feet ahead of him. He walked casually behind her to catch up.

Once Bonnie got to the trees, she looked to her left and all of a sudden taking a break, drinking water was forgotten about. "Oh my god."

"What is it?" Damon asked.

"You've got to be kidding me." Bonnie was amazed at what she spotted through the branches of the trees.

"What do you see?" Damon was still several feet behind her and therefore couldn't see whatever made her mode suddenly excited.

She didn't answer him, instead she perked up and turned left into the trees.

This caused him to lose sight of her for a moment, so he jogged to get to the spot that she was in. When he looked to his left to see where she was, she had already disappeared through the trees and brushes. She was fast he thought to himself.

Damon called out. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Come here, you've got to see this." Bonnie called back from some distance ahead.

"Bon?" Damon questioned.

But, she didn't answer from for the second time.

So, Damon marched through the trees to see where she had went to. Then he spotted her crotching just in front of where the tree line stopped on the other side. "Why did you run off like that?"

"Shhh, don't talk so loudly." Bonnie signaled with her finger to her lips.

"Are you hiding from something." Damon stood there, did she see a threat, some more people that would be a danger of them. Then he thought negative, because she wouldn't be reacting the way that she did if it was a threat.

"Sort of." Bonnie replied in a quiet tone.

Damon tapped his foot. "Wish you would tell me what is going on."

Bonnie looked back at him, where she remained low to the ground. "If you would lower your voice and get your ass over there you could see what was going on."

Damon shrugged, then proceeded to approached the area that she was in. He crouched down next to her and lowered his voice. "Here I am."

"Look." Bonnie pointed.

Looking in the direction which she was pointing in, he saw what she had spotted and what caused her excitement. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Told you." Bonnie returned.

"This is for real, those are…" Damon stopped mid sentence.

"Elephants." Bonnie finished.

About one hundred yards away from them was a large herd of elephants, out in a big grassy field.

"That's quite awesome!" Damon exclaimed.

Her emerald green eyes beamed with glee. "I know, it's amazing to see them out there, graceful animals despite their size."

He watched as the elephants roamed around peacefully. "Those are African elephants."

She nodded. "I believe so."

Damon wondered. "Then what are they doing out in America, they look wild."

"I'm thinking that they escaped from the zoo, there used to be zoos back then right." Bonnie kept her eyes on them.

"Yeah." Damon confirmed.

"Then they must have escaped, some time in the past. Once humans weren't around to maintain the zoos. Now they've had years to be out and they adapted to the American land. Mated, breeded and their population grow." Bonnie gave her best explanation.

"They appear to be thriving, even though they aren't native to this land. You can tell by the size of the herd they have been around here for many years." Damon rubbed his chin.

Bonnie was filled with awe for the large animals. "It really is a sign of hope in a way."

Damon tilted his head to the side. "Elephants, they're a sign of hope for you?"

Bonnie looked sideways at him. "They are."

"How?" He pressed to understand.

"Well, a few decades ago the entire planet went into ruin and destruction, which caused mass loss of human life, resulting in the planet being in the current condition that it is today. Yet, despite all of that life still thrives. At least with mother nature. Here you see these elephants living and going on about their lives. It's a sign of hope, life can move on in one form or another no matter the disaster." Bonnie gestured.

"I get what you are saying now, not just with these elephants, but with every place we have come across so far, you can see mother nature reclaiming the earth. Both animal and plant life have rebounded and are managing much better than the human race currently is. It's like a moment of peace in a time of war." Damon completely connected with what she was trying to say.

"Exactly." Bonnie was glad they knew the other so well, they could totally connect to each other at times like this.

Damon added. "Seeing these elephants, it's a positive sign and it shows hope just as you said. Perhaps if animals can bounce back in such a major way, than the human race will be able eventually to as well."

Bonnie mentioned. "We both know that the human race will never be able to get back to what it once was, but I get what you're saying. Perhaps there are pockets of populations scattered around the earth and although isolated, they had large populations where people are living happy and peaceful, despite the circumstances."

Damon put in. "Like the settlement we are trying to reach in Mystic Falls, Virginia. I bet there are hundreds of people there, living happy and peaceful. They don't have to worry about how they are going to survive everyday. They just thrive and live happy in their community."

"Yeah. Each day now I have dreams of how great it will be once we get there. I long for such a community after spending so much of my life fighting to survive. That settlement in Virginia is a beacon of hope for humanity. And I want so much for us to be successful in getting there." Bonnie told him.

"We will get there, we'll reach the destination of that settlement and once we do, we won't have to deal with any of the shit we have had to dealt with so far." Damon assured her.

"I believe that you are right." Bonnie gave him a half of smile.

He smiled as well. "You know I am."

She turned her attention back to the elephants. "Wow, would you look at that."

He turned his attention back to the grassy field. "Whoa."

"Seems like someone is interested in joining us." Bonnie said with amazement.

Sure enough a baby elephant, which appeared only to be a month or two old, had parted it's way from the herb and was approaching them like it was interested as to what they were.

"Why in the world is the baby elephant coming over here." He pondered with a mixture of excitement and caution."

"I would say that it's interested in checking us out." Bonnie guessed.

The baby elephant eagerly trotted it's way over, as if it couldn't wait to see the human duo which was kneeling in the bushline. The baby elephant stopped right before them.

"Be careful, we don't want the herd coming over trying to trample us, thinking that we are trying to hurt their baby." Damon spoke.

"Relax, I will be. Just don't do anything to scare it off." Bonnie returned in hushed tones.

"I won't." Damon whispered.

Then the baby elephant did something that surprised them both. It reached out it's trunk towards Bonnie as if it were offering her it's handshake.

She reached out her hand and was thrilled when the baby elephant wrapped its trunk around her fingers.

He watched on engrossed by their her interacting with the elephant, yet weary at the same time. Mainly because there were large elephants, one hundred yards away. And he didn't want them to get the wrong impression and attempt to trample them to death.

Bonnie, however was far from weary. She spoke to the baby elephant in a gentle tone. "Hey, little guy, how are you."

"Little guy? So you think that it's a male." Damon commented curious.

"Yes, it's a male." Bonnie confirmed.

Then Damon glanced at it's underbelly, seeing that it was indeed a male. "He's kind of cute."

Bonnie giggled. "He is, want to pet him."

Damon did, but then he hesitated.

"Go ahead, the herd would sense when the baby is in danger, and we're clearly not a threat to harm him. We aren't going to get trampled trust me." Bonnie insisted.

"Okay." He whispered, then reached out and touch the head of the baby elephant lightly with his hand.

"See." Bonnie made sure to keep her tone hushed. "Told you it was safe."

Damon redirected. "I think he really likes you."

Bonnie released the baby elephant's trunk. "He's just curious. Exploring everything like babies of all species do. Animal or human."

Damon eyed her. "Maybe so, then I'm sure that this baby is drawn to the person that you are. Like his instinct tells him how sweet and kind you are."

"You're the one who is being sweet with that comment." Bonnie grinned.

"So, I am." His lips curved upward.

After a minute the Mother or what they assumed was the mother made a trumpeting noise from the middle of the main herd.

"Whoops, someone is in trouble by Mom for going astray." Bonnie joked.

This earned a cackle from Damon.

Hearing his mother's call, the elephant turned and trotted back to the herd. Soon the baby elephant had rejoined it's mother and the herd.

Then Damon and Bonnie just remained croched in the bushes. Watching the herd of elephants feed on the grass and interact as a family. They watched the herd for an hour or so, both of them cherishing this moment that the only the two of them were witnessing. Realizing this moment was so inspiring, because they were with the other, as they experienced mother nature's sign of hope in the middle of a war like world. And they remained watching the herd, until the herd began to move on.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They moved back to the trees which bordered the narrow dirt road they had been walking on, before Bonnie spotted the elephants. Then they sat near the base of the trees and went along with their original idea of taking a break under the shade and drinking some water in order to get some relief from the Texas heat.

They discussed how it was an unique and rare opportunity for them to have seen elephants in the wild and how they both would remember the experience for a while.

Damon moved on to the next topic, after the elephant discussion had ended. "I have something to show you."

She took a long drink of her water. "You do."

"I uh…..was just waiting for the right day to show you and now I think it's the right day." Damon went on.

"My interest is peaked, so show me." Bonnie inquired.

Turning to his duffle bag which was laying next to him on the ground, he put his hand into it and felt around until he came up on the item that he was looking for. "Okay, now close your eyes."

"Really, close my eyes." Bonnie expressed.

"Yes, close your eyes." Damon repeated.

"Why not just show me." Bonnie pressed her lips.

"Because I want to surprise you, duh." Damon admitted

Bonnie simpered. "Sure, I'll be surprise either way."

Damon did the wild eyed thing that he did. "I'm not going to show you unless you close your eyes.

She put the cap on her water bottle. "Alright, alright." She closed her eyes.

"No, peeking." He said to her.

"I'm not." She had her eyes shut tight.

Damon observed her to make sure she had her eyes closed. "Hold out your hands."

Bonnie did as he requested of her.

Placing the item in her hands he then went. "Open them."

When she did, she immediately looked down to see what he had put in her hand and her mouth fell open.

He rubbed his hands together anticipating her reaction.

"You just gave me a camera." Bonnie was taken aback by this.

"Yes, I just did!" Damon exclaimed.

"How…..where did you get this?" Bonnie had animation in her voice.

"Back in Midland, saw it in a store before we left the city and immediately thought about you. So, I grabbed it and put it in my bag while you were exploring somewhere else." Damon explained.

Bonnie beamed. "I had no clue you have found a camera."

Damon accounted. "Well, as I said I wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity to give it to you. After we saw those elephants the perfect opportunity has arrived."

She studied the camera in her hand, she only had ever used those disposable cameras when she was a kid and was familiar with the design or make of this one. "And you can take pictures with this."

"That is correct." He insured.

"Where would we develop the film?" She needed to know.

"That's just the thing, it's an instant camera. Polaroid, a model which was made in 2016. There isn't a need for somewhere to develop the film because one you take the picture, it immediately comes out." Damon described.

Bonnie was getting hyped up. "Truly."

Damon gestured. "Truly, go ahead and try it yourself."

Inquisitive she brought the camera up to her eye, aimed it at a spot in front of her and clicked the button. The camera made a noise, then from the bottom a picture slid out of the slot.

It came out with an image that she had aimed the camera at.

"Oh, it actually works!" Bonnie squealed.

"I was hoping that it would, since it decades old." Damon pumped his fist.

"I haven't had a camera since I was a little girl, now thanks to you I have one which produces automatic pictures." She clapped her hands together.

"And that camera is full of film, plus I grabbed some extra film for when these ones run out, so you'll be able to take hundreds of photos." He snapped his fingers.

Bonnie clutched the camera to her chest. "I just love it, this makes my day. I'm so happy right now!"

Damon smiled. "Wonderful! Seeing your reaction right now, makes it totally worth it to make room in my bag to put that camera in."

She gave him a look of appreciation. "You thinking of me and grabbing this for me, it's very generous for you to do for me. More than you'll ever know."

Damon gestured. "Well, I knew that you would have been a photographer if the world didn't slip into chaos. So, here's you chance to live out your dream in a way."

"I'm very grateful for this camera, Damon. All that I can say is that this is very meaningful and significant to me." Bonnie told him sincerely.

"Then consider it my gift for you allowing me into your life, especially after I screwed up at first. This is me showing you the appreciation for our friendship." Damon returned.

"You really know what to say to impressive a girl." Bonnie laughed.

His voice was serious as he said his next words. "You are an astounding, remarkable woman, Bonnie Bennett. And the most special person I have ever had in my life. I would always do anything to see the smile you have on your face."

His words touched her heart. "And you are the most special person I have ever had in my life, Damon Salvatore. It was truly the best twist of fate when I ran into you being in my cabin. This relationship between us is of the utmost importance to me. You'll always be a part of my life."

He could hear the feeling which she expressed in those words and it lifted it heart. "Yeah, always…..I'll always be a part of you life, huh."

"You always will be and that is a promise." Bonnie stated softly.

"And I promise you that you'll always be a part of my life as well." Damon told her.

Both of them were overwhelmed by this sentimental moment between the two of them and Bonnie inspired by the gift of the camera he gave to her.

Leaning over she embraced him. "Thank you so much for this, Damon."

He returned her embrace. "Always for you, Bonnie."

They lingered in this for embrace for a long while, as if they didn't want to let the other go. Then when they parted from the embrace, they did a lingering stare into each other's eyes. A stare which was filled with intense meaning.

The both of them realized that they had a strong friendship going on between each other, and now their relationship was beginning to grow something even beyond that.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thank you to all who are taking the time to read this story. Especially with the long chapters I am writing. Your support is really appreciate, please leave feedback when you can. I'm enjoying taking the time to develop and build Bamon's relationship, as they get closer to taking it to the next level!**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	11. Chapter 11

Their extended track across Texas took them an extended period of time, this was a result of the state being so large and them having to take more breaks and more time to stop and rest due to the intense heat of the summer. Temperatures would often go into the one hundreds day after day. This made them have to stop and rest more, to drink water in order to avoid pressing themselves too much and risk overheating themselves. So they took their time.

Not that either of them were in any rush, they were rather enjoying their joined trip across Texas. They went into county after county, traveling through several towns. On their trip, they even made their way into the city of Dallas. Which like most major cities in the United States was mostly abandoned of people. Even though they spotted a few homeless people on the streets, but the homeless people weren't of any threat and was only interested in finding food and a place to sleep, and seemed to have made Dallas their home. So, they left the homeless alone.

Making their way across Dallas, and spending about four days in the city, even spending the night in the stadium that used to host Dallas Cowboys games, before eventually moving on with their travels. And Bonnie took advantage of the new camera that Damon had given her. Doing her best impression of a photographer. She took pictures of everything from landscapes, to trees, from animals to wildlife, she took pictures of the towns they went through, many of the pictures she took were the tall buildings in Dallas.

She also took plenty of photos of Damon, some were of him posing for her in front of the camera and some were of his candid moments, when he was in the natural flow of doing or saying something. He took some pictures of her as well, in the same fashion where she was posing and others of her most candid moments. They even managed to get the trick down of taking selfies together, where both of them stood or sat close together, faces close next to each other, smiling their close friendship and relationship obvious if anyone else could see the photos.

All in all, by the time that they were through, Bonnie had taken about sixty pictures in total together. She had taken the instant photos she had collected and put them all in a ziplock bag to keep, then she placed the ziplock bag in her backpack.

And during their extended trip, things between them started to change and they both noticed it. This change was the direction in which their relationship was going in and that direction was in one where it was surpassing the close friendship that they had. Damon kept noticing how beautiful that she was. He had thought of her as attractive ever since he first met her.

But, now after spending so much time with her, he saw Bonnie not only as an attractive woman, but physically as a very, very beautiful woman. Everything from her flawless, smooth brown skin, to her heart shaped lips, to her gorgeous green eyes said beauty to him. And because of this he would find himself often just staring at her, like he was in awe of her beauty.

Bonnie Bennett was a truly stunning woman to him in every sense of the word. Sometimes she would catch him staring while she wasn't looking, and he would look away, other times he wouldn't look away and he would hold his stare, even after she caught him doing so,

At times she would blush in a shy, coy way as a result much to his delight. And to his equal delight at other times she would stare back and hold his stare, with one of her own and with shared longing. As if she found him just as attractive and physically appealing to her eyes, as she was to his. They would occasionally do actions indirectly which hinted at feelings more than friendship.

However, even if both had feelings for each other that were hinting towards something more, they never voiced it or verbally expressed it with each other, whatever their growing feelings were, they each kept it to themselves. But, no matter what, the bond that they had was still growing stronger and they continued to get closer and closer with each passing day. To the point where they were inseparable and nothing, no one could come between them. And if anyone dared tried they would soon learn to regret it.

Now their extended travel across Texas had taken them three and a half months, which lasted over much of the summer. Three and a half months which it had taken them to reach from the Western side of Texas, all the way to the Eastern side. Currently in the Eastern part of the state, they were about fifty miles away from the Louisiana border. It had now turned into late summer and summer wasn't going out without a fight. The heat was still high and around the high nineties. High enough to cause heat strokes and to make anyone who spend a while out in it thirsty and in need of water to stay hydrated.

Heat like this also made for dry conditions and it had been weeks since it last rained outside. This made it difficult for Damon and Bonnie to find decent sources of water, which were beneficial enough for the two main things they needed it for. Drinking and bathing, when the two of them did find it, it was very rare and in between. Which made their sources of drinkable water dwindle down to one last twenty four ounce water bottle. That they were splitting between them. Each taking a sip from it every few hours to prevent themselves from dying of thirst. While at the same time trying to conserve the water as much as they could. With this method they were able to conserve the last battle of water for for a handful of days,

But soon even that water bottle began to run low. So much they were down to their last sip, much to dismay of both.

Feeling thirsty, she took the bottle out of her bag and was disappointed. "Damn, down to the last sip."

"I know." Damon grumbled with equal disappointment. "Enough for one person to take the last drink of."

"Yeah, but we still need to find another source of water soon and fast." Bonnie eyed the bottle.

"Yeah, we had better and hopefully we will find more water soon. It;s just been so damn dry that water has been harder and harder to come by." Damon let out a breath.

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, that's what happens during this time of year, especially in this part of the country. Sometimes weeks can go by without a drop of rain."

He wiped the sweat off of his brow. "It's been so hot all throughout the summer while we have traveled, typical Texas weather as you said. I need for it to cool down soon."

Bonnie pointed out. "We are in late summer, so perhaps in a little while longer it will cool down, once fall comes around."

Damon returned. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"In the meantime." Bonnie gestured with the nearly empty bottle of water she had. "Who is going to take the last sip."

"You go ahead and take the last sip." Damon told her without hesitation.

"Really, you're sure?" Bonnie questioned.

Damon assured. "Yes, I am. You go ahead."

Bonnie paused. "...but you must be thirsty."

Damon admitted. "I am, but you must be all well."

She frowned. "Of course I am, I just feel kind of bad for taking the last sip of water when you're in need of it too."

"I'll be fine, I'll be alright." Damon replied.

"You're sure." Bonnie repeated her words from earlier.

"I am perfectly sure, I'm thirsty, yet I know I can last a while longer without water to drink. So no need to feel bad about it." Damon stated.

Bonnie uncapped the bottle of water, however hesitated without one last look towards him.

Damon insisted. "You know I'm not taking that last sip, with you being thirsty, so you might as well take it."

Bonnie relented and took the last sip, which wasn't much. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Damon said to her. "No need to thank me, still you're welcome though."

The last sip of water still left her feeling thirsty, still she hoped that it would hold her off until they could find another legit source of water.

The two of them kept walking side by side. Hoping that they would luck out soon and find what they needed.

"You know what would be nice at this very moment." Bonnie spoke.

"Tell me." He was using his hand to shield the hot sun out of his face.

"A very tall glass, of ice cold, freshly squeezed lemonade." Bonnie explained as her mouth watered with the thought.

"Whew, that would be perfect in this heat." He whistled in agreement.

She went on. "One of the items I traded for would be for lemons, on hot days just like this one I would mix a lemon into a tall glass of water, along with some sugar and drink it right down. That would do the trick in helping me stay cool. Heck, it's so hot right now that I would even take a tall glass of lemonade without the sugar."

He muttered. "Hell, I would too. You know what else ice cold would be nice to have right now."

Bonnie wiped the sweat off of her brow with a cloth she had. "What would that be?"

Damon thought. "Uh...you know that frozen dessert that they make out of milk and cream."

"You mean ice cream?" Bonnie hinted.

"Yes, ice cream that's what I would love to have." Damon snapped his fingers.

"You've had ice cream before?" Bonnie eyed him as they walked.

"Nope., I have seen pictures of it before and it looks delicious." He licked his lips.

Bonnie mentioned. "It is delicious."

Damon asked. "You've had ice cream before?"

Bonnie confirmed. "Yes, I have."

Damon curiosity went up. "How."

Bonnie answered. "Um, I had one of those old fashioned type ice cream makers even though I don't anymore, because I needed to trade it away for more important supplies. When I had it though, I would often make ice cream with it. Takes a little time and some effort, the ending result and taste makes it well worth it."

Damon commented. "Lucky you, wish I had the chance to get ice cream."

"How about I make some for you then." Bonnie offered.

"You would do that for me." Damon perked up.

"Sure, why not. Once we get to the settlement community in Virginia, I'm positive they have ways to make ice cream there. So. I will for you." Bonnie shrugged.

"Awesome, yet another motivation for me to reach our final destination." Damon pumped his fist.

She gave him the thumbs up. "It will be well worth it, you're going to love ice cream."

He exclaimed. "You Bon-Bon are one hell of a friend!"

Her lips curved upward. "Don't I know it."

Together they continued along their walk for a few more hours, with the heat constantly bearing down on them. They knew they would have to take a break soon to stop and rest. However, at the same time they were searching for water, in the need to find a source big enough to support the both of them.

Just as it looked like they might have to go through the rest of that day without finding what they were looking for, they came up on the edge of woods.

"Wait, do you hear it?" Bonnie asked as they stood there.

"Hear what?" Damon didn't hear anything,

"Sounds like water." Bonnie spoke up with hope.

He tried to hone in his hearing. "I don't hear anything."

She returned. "Listen, it's faint but it's there."

He listened trying his best to hear. "Sorry, still don't hear anything."

Bonnie's tone got excited. "There is water near by, I know that it is."

"You really believe so and you're not just hearing things because we're in desperate need of water." Damon rubbed his hands together.

"Of course I'm not hearing things, water is close by trust me." Bonnie stated.

"I do trust you." Damon nodded.

"Then come on." Bonnie signaled with her hand.

So together, they moved into the thick forest, maneuvering their way through the thick foliage. Until they got close enough where Damon heard what Bonnie had heard. It was the sound of water running.

This made Damon pick up his steps. "There is a source of water close by."

Bonnie skipped ahead. "Told you, I have a powerful sense of hearing."

Damon commented. "Yes, you do. Let's go, I'm thirsty as hell."

They jogged the rest of the way until the came up on a stream of flowing water, just a few feet wide and shallow enough where they could see the ground beneath the water. But, it was still enough for them to drink at least and was the most legit source of water they had in awhile.

Neither of them said anything, they both lowered themselves to the ground and into their bellies until their faces were just above the water. Then they scooped up the water directly from the stream with their hands and brought the water to their mouths to drink.

Damon was especially thirsty, he drank handful after handful of the water, the cool water was clean and clear and it tasted good as it smoothed his dry throat.

Next to him, Bonnie did the same thing as the water relieved her thirst.

After a few minutes of them drinking in silence, they stopped and leaned back until they were sitting on their bottoms rested on the ground.

"Water at last." Damon lifted his eyes towards the heavens.

"Perfect timing too, I was really growing concerned that it would take awhile before we were successful in finding any." Bonnie lifted her hands to the sky.

"Lucky us, huh. Guess things will always find a way to work for us in the end." Damon mentioned.

."Guess they will." Bonnie rose to her feet.

So, Damon rose to his. "We should fill up all of our water bottles with this stream."

She brushed some grass off of the bottom of her pants. "We should but, before that maybe we should follow this stream, see if it leads to a larger body of water."

He took her up on her suggestion. "Alright."

They walked along aside the stream for about a mile and a half, the stream got wider and wider the further that they went downstream, as well as a little deeper. Then after a mile and a half, the stream opened up to a larger body of water just like Bonnie thought that it could. And this larger body of water was a lake, filled with fresh mostly clear water. The lake stretched out for miles as far as the eye could see.

But, it wasn't just any normal lake, as both of them stood, with their mouths dropped open at what they saw.

The lake was surrounded by tall cliffs of smooth black and brown rocks, which enclosed the lake on one side. Lushish , thick forest surrounded the lake also. With the sounds of birds chirping peacefully. That wasn't the best part. The part was the pair of waterfalls, which fell from the tall cliffs above, down to the rocks and lake below. Creating a loud, yet peaceful sound of waterfalling.

All of this combined together made the area have the appearance of a alluring, natural oasis. Looking like it belonged more in a rainforest, instead of Texas.

"Wow, can you believe this place." Damon spoke first.

"I know it's incredible!" Bonnie exclaimed as her eyes scanned over the scene before them.

"What are the odds that a place like this would exist in the middle of the South midwest?" Damon added.

"I have no idea, I'm just glad that we found it for both of our sakes." Bonnie spoke.

Damon pointed. "Just look at the waterfalls."

Bonnie looked ahead. "I see them, they're quite an amazing sight."

Damon gestured. "Waterfalls are like mother nature's showers, just the right amount of water to wash the dirt and grime away and get clean."

She shifted on her feet. "You're right about that, it has been so dry out, it has been what eight days since either of us last bathed."

"Nine days, It's been nine days since we were able to have our last shower or bath." Damon corrected.

"Nine days, is a while. I know that bathing isn't a daily luxury in this world, still I like to stay as clean as possible. The longest I used to go between bathing was four days before now." Bonnie sighed.

"Hmmmm, I could really use a vigorous wash up. I feel like I'm starting to pick up a slight stench." Damon muttered.

Jokingly, she waved her hand over her nose. "Phew, you're telling me."

Damon pretended to be offended. "Hey, not cool."

"I'm just speaking the truth, nine days can work up some serious body odor without washing up." Bonnie smirked.

"Don't think I smell so bad, considering." He took a sniff under his arm.

"Keep telling yourself that." Bonnie jested.

In response he playfully poked her in her shoulder.

Giggling, Bonnie put in. "To be honest, I think I worked up a little stench myself."

Damon snorted. "No comment, we can just both use the waterfalls for our own personal shower."

"It will definitely do us both some good." Bonnie agreed.

"You could take your shower yourself first, I'll move back enough where you could have your privacy." Damon offered.

"I'm fine, you could take yours first if you'd like." Bonnie returned.'

"Really?" Damon cocked his head to the side.

Bonnie stated. "Yes, really you can go first and I'll take my bath later."

Damon gave her a nod. "Okay, I'll use the waterfalls for a shower first, once we set up camp nearby."

Her eyes scanned over his face. "And perhaps you should take care of your beard while at it."

He rubbed his fingers over the his facial hair. "What's wrong with my beard, I've grown to like it on me."

"Not saying that anything is wrong with it exactly." Bonnie returned.

"You just told me to get rid of it." He furrowed his brows.

"I told you to take care of it, not get rid of it." Bonnie corrected.

Damon blinked. "Take care of it, in what way?"

Bonnie motioned. "Your beard has grown a little shaggy there, buddy."

He knew it had been awhile since he had shaved, in fact he hasn't shaved since before he met her, which was months ago. So, as a result his beard had grown a little thick. Not out of control or overly long. But, it was still quite the impressive beard, which gave him a more distinguished look than when he was clean shaven.

"Just think that you should trim it up a little, you know make it more neat and you can still kept your beloved beard." Bonnie hinted.

"Trimming, yeah perhaps I could use a trim." He ran his hand over his chin.

"Just a small one." Bonnie suggested.

He maneuvered. "In the meantime, why don't we set up camp around here. Then we can stay here for a few days before moving on."

She inclined. "We're near a source of plenty of water, all of the trees provides us a lot of shade, thus a shield from the hot sun and the lake and waterfall is peaceful to be around. Yep, I think we should spend about five days here."

He stated. "Five days is just about right, after spending days walking in the hot sun. We could both use a break to spend some time in the cool shade. Five days here it is."

They set up there camp a few yards into the forest, close enough to the lake and it's waterfalls where they could hear the water falling. But, far enough away where they couldn't see the lake because of it being sheided out of view by the trees, It was about a five minutes walk away from the lake to where they had sat up their camp.

They each made their makeshift sleeping bags, where they would sleep in for the nights they were spending there. They had been creative in making makeshift sleeping bags and tents, during the times where they had to spent nights outside, when there was no buildings around for them to shetler in.

The two of them unpacked the items that they needed out of their bags and set them up on their campsite.

After the campsite was set up, Damon had gone towards the lake to take his shower underneath the waterfalls. While he was doing so, she remained at the campsite to give him his privacy and waiting her turn to take a wash up.

In the meantime she was taking in her surroundings and listening to the birds chirping, as well as watching the squirrels move through the treetops. The sounds of the birds chirping and the water from the waterfalls falling, created a smoothing sound. All of the trees around combined to give the area a majority of shade. With some of the sunlight shining through the openings that the leafs provided.

The shade brought down temperatures slightly, it was still rather warm, but made the heat more tolerable to bear than being in the direct sun. All of these conditions made Bonnie go into a very relaxed state. Such a relaxed state that she dozed off before she knew it.

Her mini nap was interrupted when she heard a footsteps approaching the campsite at a steady pace. Which startled Bonnie out of her sleep. In her brief haziness of just waking up, she reached for her knife just in case it was some stranger coming up on her that wished her harm. She raised her knife in a defensive manner and narrowed her eyes towards the direction of the footsteps.

Damon stepped out of the trees and saw her defensive manner with the knife. He raised his hands in surrender. "Easy there."

"Oh, it's just you." In relief, she lowered her knife and put it back where she had gotten it from. After seeing that the footsteps belonged to him.

"Who did you think it was." Damon wondered.

"Some creep trying to sneak up on me for misdeeds." Bonnie confessed.

"Why, there is no one else around for miles and miles, besides us two." Damon muttered.

She shrugged. "Don't know, I dozed off to sleep, when a noise wakes you up it can catch you off guard at times."

He said. "You fell asleep, are you tired."

She responded. "Not really, the surroundings were just so relaxing to me."

For some reason this amused him. "I see,:

It was then she noticed his state of dress or lack there off. He was shirtless,barefooted and had a towel wrapped around his waist. She was caught off guard but this time it had nothing to do with her waking up from her mini nap. She had seen him shirtless although not quite like this.

He was dripping wet, like he has stepped off out of the waterfalls and didn't bother to dry off. His hair was wet from the water and beads of water ran down his naked torso. His broad shoulders, muscular pecs, bulging biceps and six pack abs were all wet with water.

The towel which he had around his waist, hung dangerously low, revealing his fitly shaped pelvis, in the class V shaped. And there was a thin line of hair just beneath his body button that disappeared underneath the towel.

Bonnie had recently come to realize that Damon Salvatore was a stunningly handsome man, who she found good looking to the extreme. But, now she was discovering Damon Salvatore had the body to match his face. And seeing the sight of him had the temptation of desire stir up from somewhere inside of her.

He noticed the way that she was staring, smirking in response. "You alright there Bon-Bon?"

"What?" Bonnie blinked not realizing how long she had been staring at him.

"I said are you alright there." Damon took a couple of steps forward.

"Yes, I'm fine." Bonnie cleared her throat to gather herself.

His smirk almost widened into a grin. "Okay, then."

Quickly, she played it off like she hadn't been affected by his body. "Is there any reason you're standing there without clothes?"

Damon ran his fingers through his damp hair. "I came over to take care of my beard."

Bonnie arched a brow. "And you can't get dressed before you take care of your beard."

"I could but I prefer to do i before getting dressed." Damon returned.

"Why does clothes get in the way of the task at hand." She quirked.

"It doesn't know, I'm perfectly capable of performing certain tasks half naked." He joked.

"If you say so." Bonnie mumbled.

Damon's tone was honest as he said. "All kidding aside, if my current state of dress really bothers you then I could do back and retrieve my clothes from the bank of the lake."

Yes, it bothered her, but not in the negative way that he implied, more so in the hot and bothered direction. There was no way she was going to make him aware of this fact though, so she deflected with a roll of her eyes. "No, you're fine, I'm fine."

Damon added. "In that case, I need you to trim my beard."

"For what?" Bonnie asked perplexed.

"Well, I don't have a mirror to see myself in so, I wouldn't want to screw my beard up with the wrong cut. Plus, since you were the one who mentioned how my beard needed trimming, I figured that you should do it." Damon answered.

"Okay, but I don't see why I would do a better job on your beard than you would." Bonnie commented.

He made his way over to his bag. "Since you brought it up, I trust you to trim it to how exactly you think it will look like."

She just looked at him for a moment.

He questioned her. "Are you going to assist me or not, Bon-Bon."

After thinking about it, she thought what would it hurt. "Sure, I'm all in."

"Great!" Damon began searching through his bag.

"Are you looking for a razor." Bonnie wondered.

"Nope, I don't have a razor." He popped. "I'm looking for the pair of scissors that I have, it should do the trick."

"I suppose it should." Bonnie said.

After a half minute, Damon pulled the scissors out of the bag. "Get them."

Bonnie declared. "Let's get to work then."

Approaching her with the scissors, he handed them to her. "Here you go."

Grabbing them from him, she looked up at him as their height difference entered into the picture. "Uh, I think I would do better if you sit down."

"Of course." Chuckling he scanned their campsite for a place to sit down at. Soon he spotted a tree stump just about the height of an average chair. It provided the perfect source for someone to sit down, without having to sit on the ground.

"Over here." He signaled with his head.

Nodding she followed him over to the tree stump.

Carefully, he sat down on the stump. "Hopefully the towel will protect me from getting splitters in my ass."

"Now, Damon." She laughed.

"It's a precious ass." Damon was half way between serious and kidding around.

"No comment." Bonnie pursed her lips.

"You can get started on the beard at anytime." Damon winked.

Studying his shaggy beard, she tried to think of the correct way to approach it. "I hope to do a good job, barber I'm not."

He told her. "I'm positive you will do you best."

She let out a breath. "Well, okay."

Saying nothing, Damon patiently waited for her to get started.

Grasping the scissors she stepped closer to him, she could smell the mixture of fresh waterfall water and the soap he had used to get clean with. The scent was very appealing to her.

Gently she began trimming his beard, making small cuts to his facial hair which was uneven of looked out of place.

Damon watched her with pure interest as she trimmed his facial hair. He couldn't help but notice how she was standing slightly between his legs to get a better angle and the fact that he was just wearing a towel. Despite the compromising looking position, he remained a gentlemen and was perfectly respectful towards her.

Soon she become very serious about wanting to do a good job, she tucked her tongue at the corner of her mouth in deep concentration.

And he thought that it was the cutest thing.

Bonnie was so focused on making sure that she didn't mess up his beard, that she almost forget he was basically half naked in front of her and how close she was standing to him. She diverted her mind from going too far into the gutter.

Damon found himself very relaxed for some reason, just with her doing the simple task of attending to his facial hair.

After some moments, she was finished trimming his beard. So, she stepped back a ways.

"You're done." Damon guessed.

"Done." Bonnie confirmed.

"How do I look." Once again he ran his hand over his beard, plenty of his hair remained there, yet it felt smoother.

"Ah….." Bonnie paused to study her work.

Damon anticipated. "Well?"

Bonnie had a slip of the tongue. "Handsome."

In response, Damon grinned from ear to ear. "Handsome, huh."

Bonnie quickly went on. "I meant your beard looks great now,"

"Uh huh." Damon showed his teeth, thrilled that she had called him handsome.

"Anyway, I feel like I did a decent job on your beard, looks neater and better if you could see it." Bonnie stated.

"I'll take your word for it, Thanks. At times it's the smallest efforts which I am most grateful for." He told her kindly.

"You're very welcomed." Bonnie gave him as sweet smile.

Damon stood, making sure his towel was secure around his waist. "I'll go back and get those clothes on, then you can have your turn it you'd like."

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Alright."

He walked back in the direction of the lake to go and get his clothes to get dressed.

Waiting until he was out of sight, she released the breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Once he had gotten fully dressed he had returned to the campsite. So, Bonnie gathered up some soap and a washcloth and headed towards the lake, while Damon stayed at the campsite in order to give her the privacy that she needed to bathe.

Once she had reached the lake, she took in the scenery before stripping out of her clothes. Once nude, she jumped into the water and swam over to where the waterfall was. She stepped up on the large flat rock and under one of the flowing waterfalls.

As soon as the water hit her, she let out a verbal sound of content. The water was cool and provided great relief from the dry, vicious heat. She stood there for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the feeling of the water running over her head and body.

Then she moved onto washing herself up. She lathered some soap onto her wash cloth and moved the wash cloth all over her body. Making extra certain to wash away all of the dirt and grime which had piled up on her for the last nine days. Then she lathered more soap to get rid of any body odor stench that might have developed on her.

As she took her natural shower, a thought came to her mind all of a sudden. The thought that Damon just a short time ago was standing under this waterfall, taking a wash up just like she was and had been nude just as she currently was.

A picture entered into her mind of him standing under this very waterfall, with water falling over his entirely naked body. And curiosity got the best of her, wondering how he would look in that position. Then she shook her head to shake the imaginary image of him standing nude under the water from her brain. The last thing she needed was to picture Damon Salvatore naked, especially in her own current naked state.

So, she soaped up her hair and focused on washing her hair. Making herself thinking about other topics instead of a naked Damon.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

After she was finished with cleaning off her body, washing her hair thoroughly, she swam back to the shore of the lake. She dried herself off and put her clothes back on. Once she was fully dressed she made her way back to the campsite. Damon was there, next to his makeshift sleeping bag flipping through she pages on a book, he placed it down once he saw that she was back.

Suggested that they have something to eat, since they were now both fresh and clean from their waterfall showers. Bonnie agreed that she was ready to eat.

But, first they took all of their available empty bottles to the lake and filled them up with water to have for drinking once they started to travel again. Then Damon commented on how they should have some fish for their next meal, since they were near a body of water.

That was will Bonnie requested that she try a hand in catching their fish instead. He quickly agreed to allow her to do it and made a fishing spear out of a stick just like he had done the time he had fished before. He handed Bonnie the spear, telling her to be careful not to hurt herself.

She returned she would be careful and stepped into the middle of the lake with the spear. Her first handful of attempts at catching fish had failed, causing her to miss several times. On the fifth time she missed, she let out a string of curses.

From the shore where he was standing, Damon gave her a few tips and pointers to better her chances of catching them. Listening to him, she did the tactics he had told her about and after about three more tries she finally stabbed the first fish with the spear.

This made Bonnie yell out in victory.

Seeing her success, Damon shouted out more encouragement from where he was.

She ended up catching two more fish and was very proud of herself for doing so. They proceeded to the campsite and Bonnie cleaned the three fish she had caught. While Damon built up an impressive sized campfire.

Once the fish was cleaned, they grilled them over the campfire. When the fish was cooked they sat down to have their meal. It was early evening by the time they ate, both were very hungry since neither had eaten anything since the light breakfast they had in the morning.

Because there were three fish, they split them in between them, each having one and a half fish. To go along with the fish they also shared a large bag of trail mix, which Damon had found in the countryside high school about ten miles back. They ate together as they enjoyed the tranquilness of the forest around them.

After their meal, they settled down at the campsite for the remainder of the day. Deciding they would do an explore hike in the woods surrounding them the following morning. They spent most of the rest of that day, talking and having conversation with each other. Discussing whatever came to their minds. From small talk to more in depth conversation.

The two of them talked for hours until nightfall came. Damon made sure to keep the campfire going, although it was more for light to allow them to see their way around in the dark than it was for heat. The night time aided by the light of the full moon in the sky. It was about ten o'clock at night and the moon was high in the sky casting a blue-white light over everything.

Bonnie was the first to comment. "A very full moon tonight."

"About the brightness I have ever seen." Damon spoke.

"Also it seems bigger than it usually is." Bonnie looked up.

"Right, I figure it's what they called the supermoon." He had his eyes to the sky.

"Super moon." Bonnie stated. "It's when the moon is closest to the earth during its orbit, isn't it?"

Damon leaned back on his elbows. "I believe it's how they explained it."

Bonnie mumbled. "It's very pretty."

Damon agreed. "And bright enough to see where you are going tonight , without the need of a flashlight."

She was silent, as her brain went into reflection.

"What is on your mind, Bennett." Damon directed after he was aware of her reflection.

"I'm was just remembering." Bonnie released an audible breath.

"Remembering?" Damon questioned.

"About dancing." Bonnie explained.

He shifted and rested his elbows on his knees. "Dancing what about it?"

She observed. "How I used to dance."

This instantly intrigued him. "You danced."

Bonnie went on. "I used to you know, every once and awhile, I would dance to relieve the stress of the bull shit I used to go through. Even though now that I mention it, it's been over a year since I last danced."

"Interesting, what sort of dancing did you do?" Damon wondered.

"Whatever sort of dancing I felt like doing at the time, which was all in good fun." Bonnie raised a shoulder.

"Interesting." He repeated.

"Dancing was one of the few times I allowed myself to let loose and have at it. I would just play a CD or a cassette in a battery powered radio and dance my heart away." She confessed.

Damon eyed her as the campfire they were sitting next to krackled. "I can imagine you were quite the fine dancer."

Bonnie grinned slightly. "I was decent enough, wouldn't when any dance contests though."

His lips curved. "You had fun and that is what matters."

She gave him a bob. "True, you know remembering it, I would love to dance again actually."

"So, what's something you." He waved.

"I don't know." She glanced into the fire.

"You could dance right now." Damon pointed out.

"You really believe I could dance at this moment?" Bonnie asked taken aback by the notion.

He raised his eyebrows. "I don't see why not, dancing is fun to you right."

She blinked. "It is, but we don't have a radio, thus no music to dance to."

He returned. "Who says you need music to dance."

She huffed out. "Kind of ridiculous if someone saw me dancing without music."

"No one else is going to see you besides me and I promise I wouldn't judge." Damon's tone was amused.

"Okay, that's a point. But, I still need music other wise I would feel silly." Bonnie chuckled.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" Damon interrogated.

"I don't have one type really, I'm open minded and will listen to any genre. As long as the song and lyrics appeal to me." Bonnie replied.

"You're correct, great music is great music, no matter what the genre." Damon concuered .

Bonnie queried. "Why does it matter what type of music I like."

Damon told her. "Because you don't need a radio to hear music or dance to it."

Bonnie crinkled her forehead. "Are you getting at something, Damon."

"If you ever want to listen to music, you just bring it up right in here." Damon tapped his temple.

"You mean music can be in your mind." Bonnie understood where he was coming from.

"Exactly. You just store your favorite songs in your mind and bring them up whatever you wish to. No radio needed." Damon was delighted that she collected.

"Maybe…." She said after a pause.

Damon put in. "More than maybe you should give it a try."

Bonnie pouted. "I can't remember the last song I listened to, in order just to bring it up in my mind."

Damon offered. "Perhaps I could assist you."

Bonnie wanted to know. "Assist me how in dancing or coming up with music without a radio."

Damon direct. "How about both."

Her attention was perked up a level. "And how exactly would you do that."

"Dance with me, you'll see," Damon returned.

"You're being sincere, you want me to dance with you." Bonnie gazed towards him.

"You heard me, I would like to dance with you right here and now." Damon confirmed.

"Hmmmm, not sure about that." Bonnie hesitated.

Damon smirked. "Why not, you don't like me enough."

Bonnie laughed a little. "Of course I like you and you know I like you a lot. I just don't usually dance with any guy."

Damon mentioned. "But, I'm not just any guy, I'm your best friend."

She admitted. "You've got me there."

"So, will you dance with me." Damon pressed softly.

"If you insist, what do you have to convince me to dance with you?" She softly challenged.

"Ah, this can be where the music part comes in. I'll sing for you." Damon countered.

"Wow, you'll actually sing for me." Bonnie's eyes widened.

He repeated. "I'll sing for you."

She pursed. "But, you said you wouldn't though, when I asked you about it before. Something along the lines of 'you wish."

He snorted. "You remember me saying so, huh."

"I have a very in depth memory." She tapped her head.

"Alright, consider it a compromise, I'll sing for you if you dance with me." Damon offered,

"Then deal, I'll compromise dancing with you as long as you sing." Bonnie accepted because she really wanted to know if he could sing or not.

"Wonderful!" Damon declared with a smile.

She waited for him to make his next move.

So, Damon stood to his feet, and held out his hand. "Hope you're up to some slow dancing."

Getting to her feet, Bonnie put her hand in his. "I'm up for it."

"See the key to hearing a song without a radio is all based on what you have on the inside of you, you don't need a radio or even a musical tune as long as the song you have inside of you comes from inside of your heart." He said warmly.

"Why don't you show me." She gave him a sweet smile.

With intention he pulled her close to his body, with one hand still holding hers and the other wrapped around her waist. In the way that men held women when they were slow dancing together. "Ready?"

Wrapping her free arm around his neck, Bonnie nodded.

From an outsider who wasn't aware that they claimed to be just best friends, the two of them looked like an couple in sort of a romantic embrace.

He began on the method of slow dancing with her, remaining silent.

Although the start of the dance with him was nice, she wondered if he was going to hold up to his end of the bargain and sing.

Thinking about which song he should sing to her, he came up with the perfect one. It was a song he had written a year and a half back, when he was determined to get another guitar one day to play as he had sang the song.

He had yet to get the other guitar, but he had set the tempo of the song in mind, along with the lyrics. Enough where he didn't need the guitar to actually sing it. It was a slow paced song, so it was ideal for the current dance he was having with Bonnie.

His song was about love and hope in a time of despair and love winning out over pain, even when things seemed most hopeless. The current environment of the world had inspired him to write the song.

This song held a lot of meaning to him, as it was his own creation. He had never sang it in front of anyone before and not for anyone. So, it was a great deal he now choose this song to sing to her. His song and his words of love and hope and choosing to sing it to her, showed how meaningful she was to him and how it was a major symbol of the relationship he shared with her.

Her first thought that she had when the first words of his singing came out of his mouth, was how he had an incredible voice.

Admired by the way that her green eyes sparkled in the moonlight, Damon began to sing the first lyrics of his song to her.

Once again she was impressed by his singing voice, it was a mixture of roughness, yet soft at the same time. It was gritty and haunting. And she can picture him as a rock star, if he had ever had a chance at such a career.

Continuing his song to her, he just didn't sing to her, but voiced the words from his heart. As he slowly danced with her.

The more she listened to his lyrics, the more that she realized it wasn't just any song. It was an epic one of love and hope. And the fact he was singing it to her wasn't lost on her. And it made her heart lift in her chest for him.

At this point, he was looking her deep in her eyes, making sure she knew every single lyric was meant for her.

The more he got into the song, the more into her feelings she got and she was staring into his sapphire eyes, absolutely entranced and mesmerized by him and his words. And at that moment it was as if there was no other care in the world besides him.

And at the very moment, it was like she was the only thing in the entire universe that mattered to him and in a large way she was the only thing that mattered. Out of all of the awful events he had been through or witness in his twenty-two years of life, he had gotten through them.

He learned the one thing he never would be able to get through was losing her. He just couldn't face living his life without Bonnie Bennett. And would do all in his power to maintain her in his life.

She moved with him as they danced, admitting to herself that she definitely felt something more for this man other than friendship, and she wondered to herself if it meant she was in love with him.

In this moment, it was like they were the only two on the face of the whole planet. In this endearing moment which was currently happening between them, the both of them were astounded by what they were feeling for the other. Sharing this tenderness and intimacy that was being exchanged between them. And it sent warmth to their hearts.

The air around them was heavy with the intense, deep, and meaningful feelings they were experiencing. The both of the knew that this wasn't just a friendship type of love, but a love which went to a whole different level. Neither verbally expressed it, yet it was clear in their eyes and how they were staring at each other. They were overwhelmed by what they were presently feeling.

When his song was over, he stopped singing, but he didn't let her go. Their danced had stopped and yet he still held her close to his body like he wished to cherish her in his arms for a while longer.

She swallowed as she just stared into his eyes, with her lips slightly parted.

With how he was feeling at the time, along with the combination of her in his arms, he had the sudden desire to kiss her, so his eyes fell to her lips.

Her heart pounded one she could see the desire that he had in his eyes to kiss her, which prompted the urge inside of her to want to kiss him as well.

Saying no words, he leaned in moving his face closer to hers.

Bonnie closed her eyes, fully prepared and ready to feel his lips on hers.

Even though the desire was strong to kiss her on her lips, he instead settled for somewhere else when he wanted to kiss her. He placed a delicate kiss on her forehead and let it lingered there before pulling away. As his own heart was moved by the gesture.

The movement caught her off guard as she was expecting a kiss on the lips. Yet, his kiss to her forehead caused a major impact to her both, emotionally and physically. The kiss to her forehead had touched her heart and nearly made her wet between the legs at the same time.

He stood there, eyes scanning over her face, as she had them closed.

Her eyes fluttered open to see him watching her with an intense gaze. Because she was at a loss of words, she could any return it with an intense gaze of her own.

For a long minute they just stood in like that in front of each other and staring longingly into each other's eyes. Under the moonlight, as the fire crackled and the nighttime animals made noises around them.

When Damon spoke there was a huskiness to his voice. "I appreciate this dance, Bonnie. Good night to you."

"Good night, Salvatore." She whispered.

And just like that he let her go and walked over to his makeshift sleeping bag.

She stood there for a moment, overwhelmed by what they had just shared. The kiss he placed on her forehead had her weak in the knees, so she went to her own sleeping bag and sat down.

The pair of them fell asleep that night with their dance and the his song he had sung to her on their minds.

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Nearly ten weeks later and it was now presently in the middle of October for them. In those ten weeks they had traveled through the last parts of Texas, into the state of Louisiana and at present they were about halfway through the state of Louisiana.

They didn't discuss much of what had happened at the camp back in Texas. All though they were both fully aware of their growing relationship and that it had meant more than friendship now. She knew that she felt romantic types of feelings towards him and desired him. He knew that he felt romantic types of feelings towards her and desired her. Yet, they individually kept this feelings to themselves. And didn't bring up the subject with the other, as if they weren't sure of the next step to take.

Deep in their hearts they admitted their amorous feelings in the relationship. But officially they kept their relationship or friendships status and mostly interacted like super close friends. Even though at times they couldn't have been have some flirtatious undertones to their conversations and discussions.

It was in the middle of October and summer had left, leaving Fall to come into full course. It showed in how temperatures had cooled and now had grown into chilly. So, chilly that they had to find warmer clothes in an abandoned Louisiana wall they had came upon a couple of weeks ago.

Damon now wore a heavy wool coat, which included a large hood. The hood covered all of his head and completely surrounded the sides of his face.

Bonnie had traded her thin hoodie for a thicker jacket to keep her warmer. Along with the jacket she wore a beanie style hat over her head, which covered her head and came down to halfway covering her ears.

The both of them had also gotten a pair of gloves for when it got even cooler outside. They kept themselves warm at night by spending the night in deserted buildings when they were available. Or building fires if they had to spend the night outside.

On this day, the two of them had spent much of the day traveling on foot, as they entered into the next county.

"It's getting colder and colder which each passing day it seems." Damon commented.

"At least we don't have to deal with the extreme heat anymore." Bonnie made a sound with her nose.

"True that." Damon agreed.

"But, you are correct it does seem to be getting colder with each passing day." She put in.

Placing his hands into the pockets of his coat, "Very chilly especially for the part of the country we are in."

She adjusted the hat on her head. "I know what you mean, It is fall. However, we are in the South and temperatures seem lower than what they usually would be."

He smacked his lips. "Perhaps it means the south will have a colder, harsher winter than normal."

"You believe so, the winter down here will be bad?" Bonnie tilted her head.

"I feel it in my gut that it will be, you know it can happen sometimes with the weather." Damon mentioned.

"Well, if you are correct than I hope we make it to Virginia before the dead of winter hits." Bonnie sighed.

Damon stated, "I'm positive that we will, but even if we don't will deal with it and adjust just as we do with everything else."

Bonnie agreed. "We will."

They walked a little further.

Bonnie added after a while. "You know this colder weather has me thinking about how times flies."

"Yeah?" Damon inquired.

"All the way back in Arizona, it was spring time when we first decided to travel, we went through a part of spring, an whole summer and now we are at Fall." Bonnie described.

"Now that you mention it time has indeed flown." Damon muttered.

"Tell me about it, it's been what about nine and a half months since we have been on this journey to our destination." Bonnie was taken aback as she thought of it.

The Salvatore man confirmed. "Nearly ten months now since we have started our trip to Virginia. Wow, I can't believe that much time has passed."

The Bennett woman said. "Nearly ten months, going through three states and now currently on our fourth. That is really something else."

Damon brought up. "You know what else that means."

She looked ahead as they walked. "What else does it mean."

"It means." He paused. "...we have been together and known each other for about ten months now, almost a full year."

"Whoa, we have been traveling together for almost an whole year and we still have several states to go before we reach Virginia." Bonnie perked.

"A very long trip, just as we suspected it would be when we started out, but at least we are on this journey together." Damon told her.

"Yes, it has taken has quite some time to reach the point where we are now, and be have a bit longer to go, but traveling with you makes it worth it." Bonnie let him know.

Damon smirked. "Hell yeah, Bennett to our journey we have been on so far and to our journey forward."

Bonnie exclaimed. "To our journey forward!"

They briefly grinned at each other.

They then kept up on their walk, about twenty minutes later they came up on a sign.

"Crossway Village." Damon read.

"Sounds like it was a cozy place to live." Bonnie commented.

Up ahead about four hundred yards away, Damon saw what was a start of a line of homes. "Looks like the village is up there, with plenty of homes to explore."

"We'll take our time to search through them, see what we can find." Bonnie stated.

With exploring and searching what they assumed was just another ghost town, they started to move forward.

But, then a loud screech from someone stopped them in their tracks.

The two of them looked at each other surprised and they said at the same time. "We're not alone."

Before they could do anything else, they were disrupted by a middle aged, disheveled looking woman charging at them from nowhere.

"The fuck." Bonnie yelled out.

The woman who looked like she was either high on drugs or just plain crazy ran at them in a threatening manner. She snarled and made growling noises, like a rabid animal and went towards them like she wanted to do them some harm.

Alarmed Damon drew out his revolver. The woman appeared to be unarmed, but from how she was acting he wasn't sure if she could pull out a weapon at anytime. "Don't step any closer."

The woman just snarled at him.

Seeing this woman as threatening, Bonnie drew out her hand gun and warned the woman. "Whoever the hell, you stay away from us."

"I'm going to murder you for being in my way." The woman screamed in response and kept running at them.

"Screw this." Bonnie was ready to shoot as the woman was just a few steps away from them at this point.

Just as they were prepared to shoot the women, she just collapsed to the ground in front of their feet and literally dropped dead as if an heart attack had hit her out of nowhere.

"Damn, she just went out like that." Damon toed the woman's body to make sure she was dead.

"What in the fuck was that?" Bonnie tried to process what just happened.

"I have no fucking clue, it's like she was possessed or something." Damon was equally as confused.

"Or perhaps just crazy. This world can screw with some people's minds." Bonnie shook her head.

Damon looked at the fresh corpse with some pity. "True, you have to be mighty mentally strong in this world, seems like this woman lost it."

Bonnie mumbled. "Tried to kill us for no good reason, then again a lot of people try to murder for no good reason."

Damon grumbled. "Just another damn lesson in how we always have to keep up our guard."

And that lesson was proven as only a short time later, a group of people who have appeared to be following the woman who just died came out. These people surrounded the pair with their guns drawn.

"Now just what." Damon cursed in response.

"More people who wish to kill us." Bonnie scowled.

The group of people surrounded them in a circle, aiming their guns at the two and yelling at them for them to drop their guns.

But, dropping their guns and surrendering wasn't in either of Damon or Bonnie's characteristics.

Damon and Bonnie pressed themselves back to back, in an defensive stance. He with his revolver still out and her with her hand gun.

Again the people yelled at them to drop their guns.

"Hell no, we're going to fight, right." Bonnie said with determination in her face.

"To the death, Bonnie." Damon sneered at the men and women surrounding them.

They remained back to back, prepared to get into a standing off and preparing to get into a shoot out if they needed to.

"Wait, Wait, don't shoot them." Came another male voice.

Damon and Bonnie watched as a man dressed in all black, with dark hair, a goatee and grey-blueish eyes stepped up. "Don't shoot them, they aren't the bad guys."

Whoever this man was he acted like he was the leader of this group.

Damon and Bonnie remained tense and in a defensive stance.

The grey-blueish eyed man ordered the group. "Lower you guns."

The group followed orders and lowered their guns.

However, Bonnie and Damon refused to lower theirs.

"Please, lower your guns." This man turned his attention to Bonnie and Damon.

"We don't mean any harm we're just traveling through." Bonnie returned.

"Neither do we, mean you harm. So, you can put your guns away." This man insisted.

"No way, you're trying to get us to lower our guards and attack." Bonnie retorted.

The grey-bluish eyed man spoke to her. "I assure you that I'm not and this is all just a bad misunderstanding."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

The grey-bluish eyed man murmured. "You don't seem to be very trusting."

Damon snared. "I happen to share in her sentiments."

"Do you know, I happen to catch her name is Bonnie and yours?" This man questioned.

"Damon, not that it matters to you." Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Damon, Bonnie. I promise you both that we don't want hurt you. So, lower your guns and both of our sides can avoid the unnecessary violence." This man went in a charming tone.

Bonnie questioned on her guard. "What in the hell do you want from us then?"

He answered. "Nothing, we were chasing after that mad lady there and it was just a conwindence that we ran into each other. If you hear me out, I'll explain to you how this is just a misunderstanding and we can all be at peace."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Before we hear you out, why don't you tell us who the hell that you are."

"My family owns this here village." Was the reply. "And my name is Kai Parker."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Thanks to you all who read and reviewed the last chapter.**

 **I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors I missed.**


	12. Chapter 12

The Bennett, Salvatore pair remained back to back, and still had their guns in out, eyeing down who they now knew as Kai Parker. Despite him introducing himself, they weren't put at ease just yet. And were prepared for a fight still from those who surrounded them.

Kai saw this. "Now that we are aware of each others names, could you two please place your guns away."

Bonnie was still in defensive mode. "That depends."

Kai looked at her. "Depends on what? I give you my word that none of us will try to hurt you."

Bonnie returned. "Yeah, well one can't rely on people's words these days."

"I back her up, most of the folks we have ran into have wished us harm or tried to kill us. So, it's understandable why we are on edge, especially when a bunch of you surrounded us with guns." Damon was on his guard as much as Bonnie was.

"If you have had bad luck with others wanting to kill you, then it is understandable why you would think that of us too, I agree with why you might believe that everyone you run across may have bad intentions. But, again I assure you we wish you no harm." Kai insisted.

"Not so fast, if you want us to believe that you don't intend to harm us then why don't you explain some things." Bonnie put in.

"Sure uh, Bonnie why don't you tell me what you want me to explain." Kai aimed a charming curvature of his lips at her.

Bonnie tensed. "Why do you explain this dead lady at our feet."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, who exactly is this chick?"

Kai shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

"Really, seems like she came out of your village as you called it and you have no idea who she is." Bonnie expressed.

"We, my family and I don't know who she is. She just wandered into our village today." Kai replied.

"If she was a stranger to you, then why did she ended up dead." Bonnie remained filled with caution.

Damon added. "And why did she try to kill us?"

Kai waved a hand. "I'm assuming she ended up dead because of the injuries which was caused in the struggle with some of the members from our village. You see she just wandered in and for no reason at all started to threaten some people in our village. Acting like some crazed, rabid animal, saying how she was going to kill us all."

"We don't wish to hurt anyone, however we will if we have to protect our village. She got into a struggle with a couple of our people and they had to injure her in order to get her off of them. Then she ran away and saw you guys, perhaps she assumed that you were one of us, or maybe it was just her crazed self trying to kill you like she did to us. But, we have nothing to do with her decision to attack you both."

Going over what Kai had said, Bonnie could buy into his explanation. Especially since she was big on the self defense debate and defending herself at all costs. So, she wouldn't blame Kai and the others for doing all that they could to defend themselves.

"Makes sense I guess, since she charged at us she had lost her mind and declared she was going to kill us." Bonnie muttered.

"It does seem like the now deceased woman was on the crazed side, Guess if she was intending on killing us then she was intending on killing anyone." Damon mumbled.

"You see, then her being dead did both of our sides some good. The only one here who appears to be set on killing someone was her." Kai gestured to the body on the ground.

"Fine, we just need one more explanation before we decide that we are safe enough to put our guns away around you." Bonnie jerked her shoulder.

Cocking his head at her demeanor, the Parker man asked. "What do you need to know now?"

Being around Bonnie long enough, Damon knew exactly what else she wanted to know, even before she spoke it and he wanted to know the same. "Why did your people pull out their guns against us, yelling at us to drop our guns. That is what my partner and I would like to know."

Kai repeated ."Like a said it was just a misunderstanding between our sides. Some of us chased the lady out of the village to make sure that she wouldn't get away for a chance to come back and finish the job she tried to start, then they saw her around you and maybe assumed that you were with her and therefore a threat to us."

Bonnie said back. "Well, me and Damon surely don't know who the hell she is. We have nothing to do with her attempts on your village."

"Now we can see this, it's why I told them you weren't the bad guys after realizing this lady wanted to kill you as well. Since we cleared up this misunderstanding up, can both of our sides now agree to a ceasefire, so no one else has to die here." Kai pleaded.

"I mean there is no need to waste precious bullets on an unnecessary gun fight after all." Bonnie stated.

"She's right, neither of us like to fight if we don't have to." Damon put in.

Kai look relieved. "So, we'll keep everything peaceful between us."

Letting go of their caution and believing Kai enough where they believed they weren't in danger any longer, the two of the finally let their guards down and put there weapons away.

"Yeah, we'll keep it peaceful." Bonnie returned, as much as she was always ready to fight and defend herself, she would always take the often to avoid a fight if she could. Now more so since she had Damon with her, she only fought as a last option and wouldn't risk herself or him getting hurt.

"Since none of us wants trouble, my partner and I will go on our way, we leave you alone, as long as you leave us alone." Damon commented.

"We thought that this village was abandoned like most of the other areas we ran across, now that we know it isn't, we'll go on our way and leave you be." Bonnie conducted towards Kai and the group of people around them.

"Wait, Wait. You two are travelers I take it." Kai guessed.

Damon nodded. "Correct, we're just making our way through."

Said Kai. "And from the looks of it, I would say you have been traveling for a few days at least."

Bonnie let out a breath. "That would be an understatement."

Her comment earned a smirk from Damon, as the two of them had been traveling together for months now.

"Let me make an offer to you." Kai suggested.

The duo shared a sideways glance with each other.

"An offer?" Damon questioned.

"More like a truce." Kai stepped up. "To make up for our misunderstanding with you, I offer you both a place to stay in our village."

"You're offering us a place to stay?" Bonnie questioned him to make sure.

"A place in this village for the both of you to live here, where you won't have to travel no longer." Kai confirmed.

Pausing Bonnie redirected. "Thanks for your offer but as for living here, we'll have to turn you down on that. We were just making our way to our..uh destination a ways away from here and were never planning to stay."

Damon added. "Yep, the two of us were just going to be in this area temporarily, but we aren't going to stay here for long since we have somewhere else we need to get to."

So Kai changed it up. "If this is the case and you are traveling with somewhere you need to reach, then you must need to rest at least."

Neither Bonnie or Damon said anything.

"Come on, I….we offer you a place to stay here, if not to live then at least to rest for a little bit before you make your way further to where you need to get to." Kai pressed in a nice tone.

It was true that they both were planning on stopping and resting for a bit, shortly before the crazed lady had tried to kill them, which lead to the current spot they were in at the moment.

"Guess it wouldn't hurt." Damon said towards Bonnie as he looked at her.

She was still weary and very careful about just trusting people, and was still hesitate on trusting or welcoming people she didn't know. She only dealt with strangers on a business level. However, since she had met Damon, she had been more open to meeting new people and giving them a chance. So, she sought out his judgment on this one.

"What you think, you think this is a good idea?" She wanted to know.

"What do you think we should do?" He asked of her.

"I asked you first." She arched a brow.

"I mean we do need to rest some before moving on again and this looks like a good place to do it, we have spent the last handful of nights outside, maybe we could sleep inside tonight in their village down there. So, as I said I believe it wouldn't hurt." Damon leaned in towards her.

Bonnie wondered. "So, you believe we can trust them then."

Her best friend pointed out. "I believe if they wanted to really kill us they would have done it already, but we're still alive and the only one who actually said she wanted to kill us is dead at our feet, I take that as a sign we can trust these people."

She mentioned. "Does that mean you think we should take the offer of staying here for then."

He gave her a nod. "We should consider it, since it was offered. We wouldn't have to stay here for long, just long enough to rest for a while. But, the decision is all up to you."

"I trust your judgment and I'm with you on this as since you believe it is fine. I have no problems with staying in their village." She finished after she was persuaded by him that they wouldn't be putting themselves into any danger.

"How many days should we stay then?" He inquired from her.

"Three, but no more than four, then we can continue traveling." Bonnie proclaimed.

Damon gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, then it's settled, three days it is."

Kai stood there, watching as the two had a conversation among themselves. "What do you say, will you stay here?"

They turned to face Kai.

"We've worked it out and we decided that we're cool with staying." Bonnie replied.

"You have yourself a deal, we will accept your truce, but we'll only be staying for three days." Damon answered in return.

"Excellent! I promise you won't regret this. Me and my family will make sure that the both of you are comfortable while you're in our village." Kai exclaimed excited they had accepted.

Damon gestured. "We couldn't turn down a generous offer, with how much we have traveled."

Bonnie backed him up. "Yes, it is appreciated."

Kai nearly beamed. "Why you're welcome, Bonnie."

"Okay lead the way." Damon said.

Kai signaled to a couple of the men which were part of his group. "You all get rid of this body and bury it somewhere outside of the village, before she starts to decompose and stink up the joint.

A few of the men moved and lifted the corpse of the women and began dragging her in the opposite direction of the village, to carry her somewhere to bury the body.

Then he turned towards Damon and Bonnie. "You two, follow me."

Damon lent her his arm.

Taking his hint, she looped her arms into his and they then proceeded to walk side by side without their arms linked. As they followed Kai and the other members of the group. Soon they entered into the village which had a line of village style homes on either side of the street.

They took notice on how most of the homes seemed occupied with people living in them. Some of them standing or sitting outside on their porches, steps and yards. Gawking at Bonnie and Damon as the past through, whispering to each other as they did so.

"You'll have to excuse them, it's not often they see new faces coming through here." Kai said to explain the gawking.

"Oh, okay." Damon said in return.

"This village is the home to all of my family as I told you both. Every single person you see here besides you two is a member of my family." Kai let them know.

Looking around at the people they past, along with the group they were in which were all starting to part ways as they made their way through, Bonnie raised her brows in curiosity. "Really, everyone in this village belongs to one family?"

Kai confirmed. "Yes, we are all Parker's here and all related, Immediate Parker family members, plus extended Parker family members."

Damon walked with Bonnie alongside him. "How big is your Parker family base here by the way?"

"We are seven members strong at the moment." Kai answered in the tone of someone who was proud to talk about how big their family size was.

Bonnie's eyes widened out at the number.

"Seventy members, that's something. I never heard of so many people as a part of the same family being alive before." Damon whistled out.

"Seventy members, hard to for you to believe maybe but it's the truth. All through this village are members of the my family Generations of Parkers from as young as in their teens to as old as in their mid sixties." Kai put in.

"Again never heard of such a achievement of having so many people belonging to one bloodline alive at the same time before. Because of how dying can come easy in this world, making living so difficult, I've only ever seen as handful of the same family alive before." Damon mentioned.

Bonnie uttered. "With the death rate as high as it has been, large families still being around is extremely rare indeed."

Kai looked over his shoulder back at them. "All I can say is that we Parker's are survivalist. We lean on each other and it's the reason why we are still around, while other families have died out."

The both of them could relate to the Parkers on being survivalists.

After a few minutes the rest of the group had parted their ways, and there was only Kai left as he lead them on. The two of the followed Kai, as Damon escorted Bonnie on his arm. Shortly, later Kai had lead them into a large open area. Which was filled with even more people, that they now knew belonged to the Parker family.

This open area had a huge gazebo right in the center of it and brick laid on the ground, then there was a bunch of benches surrounding the the gazebo. Many of which had people sitting on them. All of who turned their attention towards Kai, seeing that he had two people with him they didn't know.

"This is what we call Common's Square." Kai told Damon and Bonnie. "This is the most popular hang out spot in the village for my family, We all hang out here with each other, to chill out as well as we hold a lot of our get togethers here."

"I can see why, this is a pretty neat area." Damon commented.

With her eyes scanning over the gazebo, Bonnie agreed with Damon.

"Excuse me you all." Kai spoke up to the people which were in Common's square. "Let me introduce you as I'm sure you are wondering who I have just brought in with me. These pair on travellers who have wandered into our area, and I have offered them a place to stay in our village. Say hello to Damon and Bonnie."

Everyone stared at them in silence, while a few mumbled out words.

The Salvatore, Bennett duet raised their hands in a symbol of acknowledge to all of those around them.

"They're perfectly safe and friendly to be around, and they need a place to stay for the next few days. So, how about we all open our arms and give them a warm Parker family welcome." Kai added.

Some of them said there hellos or waved from wherever they were as others went up to meet them.

Kai spoke as he introduced the two of them to some of the members of his family which had walked up. "Damon, Bonnie, I would like you two meet my siblings."

"This is Luke and Liv." Kai gestured toward a set of blondes, one male and one female. "They're my sister and brother and they are twins to each other."

"Hello." Bonnie responded towards the twins.

While Damon issued them. "Greetings."

The twins returned a "Hi" at the same time.

"And this is Jo, my other sister." Kai added.

"Wonderful of you to come into our village." Jo gave them a half bow.

Damon issued the brunette woman a "Howdy."

Bonnie greeted. "Damon and I are grateful for your welcome and giving us a place to rest for a few days."

"Yes, it is much appreciate." Damon returned.

"We will do all we can to make you feel at home, isn't that right everyone." Jo cheesed.

"We must certainly will, we are always open to accepting people in open arms. It's just the Parker family way." Kai conquered.

Bonnie gave them all a friendly expression. "Well, again we are thankful and promise we won't overstay our welcome."

That was will Luke said. "You won't have to worry about overstaying your welcome, we have plenty of room for two more people."

Damon stated. "My friend and I will make the most of our stay while we are here."

Kai brought up. "You know what, as a part of our hostility why don't we throw a party for you, Parker style."

"A party for our guest, is exactly what we should do." Luke agreed with his brother. "We do throw the best parties I mean."

"Wow, you don't have to go through the trouble of having a party just because we are here. Offering us a place to stay in your village is enough." Bonnie pronounced.

"It's no trouble, we always through parties here from time to time, as a family tradition. We would be honored to have one for you after your travels." Kai went.

"Well, if it's honestly not any trouble for you, I guess." Bonnie shrugged.

Damon glanced at her with a grin on his face. "Hey, I am the partying type, aren't you Bon."

Bonnie smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I can be the partying type when you're around."

Kai pressed a little. "Does that mean you two all in for this party."

"We're in." Damon and Bonnie voiced at the same time.

"We'll be sure to show you a great time." Liv told them.

"I sure do hope so, I'm a party animal you know." Damon smirked.

This earned a snicker from Bonnie.

Kai redirected as his sisters. "Why don't you give Bonnie a little tour around, while Damon says behind with me to discuss some party favors."

Jo nodded. "That's the right idea."

Liv added. "We can give her a tour, if she is okay with it that is."

"I'm fine with that." Bonnie said as she was relaxed more than she usually would be around strangers. But, again it was because Damon deemed them as trustworthy and now so did she. As they didn't raise any red flags that she normally would feel around threatening or dangerous people.

"Come with us and we'll show you give you this tour." Jo recommended.

Bonnie gave Damon her brief attention. "I'll be right back."

"And I'll be here waiting for you when you return." Damon gave her a wink.

She gave him a half smile, before going off with Jo and Liv. As Damon remained in the Common's square with Kai.

For the first couple of minutes there was silence as she followed the two sisters, then she decided to make conversation to be polite.

"So, do you have any more siblings besides the four of you?" Bonnie asked as she didn't know how each to start off a conversation with the two stranger women.

"We have three more you didn't meet, which would make seven together in total. Four boys and three girls." Liv let her know.

"Whoa, that's quite a big immediate family you have there." Bonnie commented.

Jo beamed. "Our parents dreamed off wanting a ton of children and so they made it happen."

Then Liv questioned her. "Do you have brothers or sisters?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No, I don't, I'm an only child. Have never known what it's like to be raised with siblings."

Liv put her hands up into the air. "Let's just say that it makes for a lot of competition, but it is a healthy competition between all of us."

"Some who would fight like cats and dogs when we were kids, but now we are all grown we stick together like glue." Jo pointed out.

"Well, I know the importance of having people close to you, who watch out for you in times such as these." Bonnie declared.

Liv and Jo lead her down a couple of blocks, then they made a right turn down a narrow street. Which had more village style houses on both sides.

"It is an advantage for us to have the numbers on our side, with all of the Parker family living in one place." Jo went after a while.

"Speaking of your numbers, with such a large group of people, how do you manage to fed them all. With food often being so hard to come by these days. Even with one person struggles to find food at times. I'm interested in how you all can feed so many." Bonnie was truly curious.

"That's a great question, how can we feed so many mouths in a world where food and be very few and far between. But, we have our ways and manage to make it work." Jo stated.

Liv joined in. "Ways such a hunting for our food."

Bonnie muttered. "I see, how do you manage to take care of the children of your family?"

Liv told her. "We don't have children in this family."

Bonnie was slightly taken aback by this answer. "You don't."

"The youngest Parker here is about sixteen years old, so we haven't had a child born here in sixteen years." Jo expressed.

"Sixteen years, a lengthy time without a child birth in one family." Bonnie responded.

"There is a reason for not having any children born recently. We are hesitate about having to raise a child in such harsh conditions." Liv said.

"We all agreed that certain circumstances would be meet, if either of us were going to birth a child." Said Jo.

Bonnie let out a breath. "I guess I can't blame you, raising a child is hard enough as it is. Raising one to have to survive in a post apocalyptic has to be more challenging."

Jo commented. "Correct, however one day we always hope that we will be able to have little Parker's running around."

Jo and Liv lead Bonnie around their village, giving her their tour. Along the way she met some of their other siblings and family members, including their parents. Then they moved on to show Bonnie the town hall which they said the Parker's had met for their family meetings. There was also a building designated to be their cafeteria which they explained to her the family gathered together to have all of their meals.

All in all, Bonnie thought that they had an efficient set up going with the family community they had created. It didn't provide any of the advances or promises that the settlement in Mystic Falls, Virginia was rumored to have. Of course there wasn't electricity in the village and have things were run, was primitive compared to what she had heard about the town in Virginia which she and Damon were attempting to reach.

Still the Parker's appeared to have all of the most essential items they needed and had everything running smoothly. All of them appeared to be well fed and functioning well, which was a feat within itself. Since she had seen the sizes of groups sometimes be counter productive, because there weren't enough mouths to feed. But, this village didn't have such a problem.

Once the tour was finished Jo spoke. "I'm going to go and prepare one of the places we have for you and your traveling partner to sleep in during your stay."

"Okay." Bonnie responded.

"Liv, why don't you lead her back to the square while I get to work on it." Jo directed towards her sister.

"I will." Liv returned and gestured for Bonnie to follow her back.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

In the meantime while Bonnie had gone on a tour with Liv and Jo, Damon remained in the Common's square with Kai as he talked about those party favors with him. After the conversation, Damon figured Kai to be a pretty decent dude, one which we would get along with well.

As he stood around with Kai, they were approached by a man who had long dark hair, falling above his shoulders. Along with brown eyes and pale skin.

"Kai." He started. "I need to see you for something."

Kai switched his attention. "What is it, Ren?" Identifying the long haired, pale skinned man.

Ren replied. "I need your assistance with something back at my house."

Kai held up a hand. "I'll give you assistance shortly, But, right now I'm handling matters with our visitors."

Ren looked confused for a moment. "Visitors?"

"Visitors." Kai hinted towards Damon.

"Oh." Ren blinked as if he noticed Damon standing there for the first time.

"This is Damon, he and his traveling partner wandered near our village. So, we invited them to rest here for a short time." Kai went on.

Ren asked. "He is resting here?"

Kai confirmed. "For a few days before traveling on, until then we are going to treat them as our guest. Damon, this is Ren my close cousin."

Damon offered his hand. "Hello, Ren."

Taking Damon's hand in a loose handshake, Ren returned a Hello and then told Damon. "Been a while since we've had outside visitors."

"We're going to throw a party, Parker style for Damon and his partner." Kai let Ren know.

"Really, a party when." Ren switched his attention briefly to his cousin.

"I think tomorrow night, to show them a good time before they leave here." Kai reacted.

"Tomorrow night, I will make sure we gather up the wine, just like we have at all of are other get togethers." Ren Parker deadpanned.

Kai simpered. "Wine would be a perfect addition to the party. You like wine, Damon?"

Damon smacked his lips together. "More of a bourbon man myself, but I'll gladly drink some wine."

Kai conveyed. "Enough wine will be gathered for all of us to drink."

"We'll just have to get it out of the wine cellar before the party starts." Ren muttered.

"Looking forward to it." Damon voiced.

"Damien…" Ren began.

"Damon." Damon correct.

Ren corrected himself. "I meant Damon, where is your partner, is he around."

Damon raised his pointer finger. "She, my partner's a she."

Ren acted like his interested rate raised. "She?"

"She." Damon repeated. "I traveled here with a woman, named Bonnie my friend, she went on a tour."

"Liv and Jo took her on a tour." Kai let Ren know.

"Can't wait to meet our other visiting guest." Said Ren.

Just then Bonnie entered into the opposite side of the area, to where Damon stood with Kai and Ren. She had followed Liv back, even though he didn't see Jo with them.

"There she is!" Damon exclaimed.

Realizing that he was talking about her, Bonnie looked across the way at her friend.

Their eyes connected and Damon eyed her down with an intense look of longing mixed with pining.

She returned his gaze with an intense stare of her own. Which was equally as longing, mixed in with meaning.

For a few seconds they held each others gazes as their eyes were locked on the others across the short distance. And for a brief period of time it was like the people currently around them didn't exist.

Then Bonnie caught herself and realized quickly how they weren't alone, so she broke the stare down by looking away, which resulted in a blush coming onto her face.

Damon eyed her down for a moment longer, before he looked away to continue his conversation with Ren and Kai.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They spent much of the day in and around Common's square hanging out with and getting to know some of the Parker's. By the end of the day both of them found themselves getting more comfortable with the family. Then night time fell and some of the family started to go back to their homes as it had gotten dark. That was when Jo informed them that the place she had prepared for them was ready.

Just before nine 'o'clock of the night, Jo lead them through some of the village, until she came up on a small village style house. "Here you are."

Damon and Bonnie walked through the open door and into the house, which contained one large room that had a couple of cots spread apart, the room was lit by a couple of wall installed fire light torches and there was two other smaller rooms which branched off to the side.

The pair off them placed their bags which they had been carrying around with them all day down.

"There are the cots for you to sleep on, there's also an outhouse outside right ahead, just in case either of you need to get out and use the restroom during the middle of the night." Jo told them.

"Thanks for setting this up for us." Bonnie showed gratitude towards Jo.

"You're welcome, let me know if you need anything." Jo added.

"We will, but we'll settle down for the night for now." Damon aimed at Jo.

Jo rubbed her hands together. "In that case, we will pick up where we left off in the next daybreak."

Damon did a single nod. "Right, see you in the morning."

With that Jo left, leaving the two of them alone.

He shut the door and turned to face Bonnie.

"Whew, it's been one hell of a long day." Bonnie stretched out her muscles.

"It has been, but it's also been a productive day." Damon vocalized.

"Yeah, it has." She went along.

He studied her. "How do you feel about today?"

She maintained. "Content I would say."

Damon removed his coat. "The Parker's seem like a generous, well set family."

"They're decent enough, we got a cool deal by running into them though." Bonnie agreed.

"And what do you say about the party they are throwing tomorrow night." Damon asked her.

She removed the beanie knit cap from her head and smoothed down her her with a hand. "I would say that parties are made to be fun and I always embrace a chance to have some fun, when chances for fun can be hard to come by."

He kicked off his shoes. "With how shitty conditions on this planet are, letting loose at the party is something the both of us could use."

She exclaimed. "Exactly!"

"You know, we are in a very positive place at the moment." Damon enthused

"We are, aren't we. With a promising future ahead." Bonnie beamed brightly.

They took some time to get settled in, after they had removed their coats and jackets, along with their shows. Then because neither of them felt like going to sleep just yet, they stayed up and had a conversation with just the two of them. They had a conversation about light hearted and fun things.

Bonnie talked about some things with him which made her giggle and laugh, and it made him laugh and brought a smile to his face in return. As he sat there watching her, as her beautiful emerald green eyes were filled with joy and laughter. His heart caught up into his throat as he thought about what a vision she was to behold. And how he lucky he was to have Bonnie Bennett by his side.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

At daybreak, the pair of them woke up in their separate cots, then he put his coat and shoes back on and she put her jacket and shoes back on. And after a while they stepped back out into the cold mid morning chilly air. Together they went into the Common's square where a small group of Parkers had already gathered to mingle about.

The two of them were just sitting on a bench next to each other, when Kai approached them. A short time later.

Kai started. "Bonnie, Damon you're up and I'm glad you are, is there something I can get you."

Damon replied. "No we're good, thanks for asking though."

Kai added. "Are you sure, with the welcome we gave you yesterday I totally forgot to offer you some of our food. You must we hungry this morning."

"We are hungry, but…." Bonnie began to speak.

"You should go to the cafeteria then while we are having breakfast there, they'll gladly serve you some food knowing that you are our guest." Kai interrupted.

Bonnie finished her sentence. "We are hungry, but we won't be eating food from your family."

Damon stated. "Yeah, we're fine on remaining here."

Kai furrowed his brow. "You say you are hungry, yet you turn down an offer for food. Never heard of a hungry person turning down a food offer where food is so scarce."

"And the majority of the time,we would gladly take any food source which we came across. It's not meant to be a offense to you or your hospitality of offering the Damon and me food, it's just that we don't need it." Bonnie said to Kai.

"We have our own source of food we have been carrying around with us." Damon gave the explanation to Kai.

"Yep, it's the main reason why we are turning down your food. No need to take unnecessary food from your family with all of those mouths you have to feed it we have our own." preserved.

An expression of cordialness came across Kai's face. "You don't have to be concerned about that, we have food to feed my family and some left over for you two as well."

Bonnie implied. "It's fine, we have plenty of food for ourselves right now."

Damon featured. "I and Bonnie have some deer meat which we roasted over a fire some days ago."

Kai went with wonderment. "Deer meat, you have deer meat?"

"Enough to last us for the next week." Damon confirmed.

"Enough meat to feed about four people." Bonnie added.

"And we want to eat as much of it as we can before it goes to waste and spoils." Damon put in.

Kai shifted on his feet. "May I ask how you came across so much deer meat then."

Damon responded. "Through hunting of course."

Bonnie mentioned. "Just a few days ago, we ran across a deer and killed it for our meal."

Damon dramatically widened his eyes in the way he did. "A white tailed buck deer, it was massive, with like about like twenty antlers points."

"You're exaggerating, the buck had about eight antler points." Bonnie snorted.

"It was still a huge ass buck though." Damon chuckled.

"About close to two hundred pounds I would say." Bonnie stated.

"And you guys hunted him down just like that?" Kai listened for the answer.

Damon jerked his thumb. "She was the one who killed it actually."

Bonnie's lips curved. "Was the biggest game I have ever managed to hunt down."

Damon continued "And with a bow and arrow."

"Bow and arrow." Kai was shocked as he had expected to hear that they had hunted with a gun of some sort.

"A bow and arrow and if you could have seen her take the buck down you would have been impressed." Damon expressed.

"Wish I would have been there to see then." Kai said as he looked at her.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Well, it wasn't such a big deal I just aimed fired and got lucky."

But, Damon emphasised. "Don't be modest now, Bon-Bon. It takes more than luck to hunt down a deer. It takes a lot of skill, especially with a bow and arrow."

She shrugged. "True, I just did what I had to do for us to eat."

Symbolizing, Damon pointed to his forehead. "And that arrow landed right between the buck's eyes with perfect accuracy."

"Okay, that part I do have to give myself credit for." Bonnie patted herself on the back.

"Anyway, once she had taken the animal down, we saw how huge it was. Large enough to feed about at least ten people or more at one time." Damon recurred to Kai.

"It was much more than either of us could eat at once, once we had cooked it over the fire. But, that we made the best of it, because we had so much left over." Bonnie commented.

Revealing the deer meat they had packed away, Damon pulled out a big ziplock bag packed with the cooked deer meat. "We managed to preserve and keep enough to last us for a few days."

Rubbing his chin, Kai saw the bag of deer meat. "I'm satisfied to see you both have something to eat, just didn't want to be rude to our guest and not offer food to you."

"I don't see you as rude, your generosity of letting Damon and I sleep in was enough." Bonnie communicated in a civil way.

"My parents taught me well." Kai puffed out his chest. "But, how do you learn to use the bow and arrow."

"She is self taught, which just proves how badass she is." Damon boosted.

Bonnie rolled her eyes in a good natured way. "Damon!"

Damon nudged her with his shoulder. "Come on, Bon you know that you're the master with the bow and arrow.."

Bonnie admitted. "I am."

Damon went on singing Bonnie's praises. "And not just a master at the bow and arrow, but a master at surviving overall. I don't know what I would do without you, just sure that I wouldn't be here."

"May I ask what you mean by that?" Kai arched a brow.

"Sure, I meant I would be dead if it weren't for her already, she saved my ass a couple of times along the way." Damon disclosed.

"To be fair, with as much credit as he gives me for saving his ass, he saved mine too. I also would be dead without him, so it goes both ways with us." Bonnie indicated.

"Aw, shucks." Damon pretended to be coy.

Bonnie glanced at her friend. "He is also resourceful for finding food, I would say that he is as good of a fisherman as I am a hunter. He caught fish more than once along the way and taught me how to fish as well."

Kai looked between them. "Seems like you pair make quite the team."

Bonnie delivered proudly. "We sure as hell are!"

Damon outreached his hand, "Hell yeah, Bon team kick ass,"

Taking his hint, she gave him a high five.

"On a real note, for all of this time we have been traveling together, she's been a excellent partner and an even better friend." Damon complimented her and was looking at her, even while his comment was sort of direct at Kai.

"Same in return, you know the best thing about having a partner you can trust, who is also a good friend is that I always trust he'll have your back and watch out for me." Bonnie gave a sweet smile towards Damon.

"Right, a it's important to have someone who will always be there and support you. Like we have each others backs." Damon smiled.

Kai made a sound with his throat.

Which made both Bonnie and Damon return their attention to him, as they had been caught up in explaining their traveling relationship with each other.

"Sounds like you both are loyal people to the other." Kai noticed.

"Indeed we are." Damon confirmed.

"We treasure loyalty around here in this village. And learning of your skills of hunting, fishing and surviving in general the both of you would be an perfect addition to our community. We would really value your use around here if only you could stay permanently." Kai told to them both.

"I'll tell you this, Kai that you have a fine establishment here in this village." Bonnie nicely said to the Parker man.

Kai's tone was cunning. "Why thanks Bonnie, I wish that it was fine enough for you two to reconsider living here."

Bonnie shook her head. "We can't live here."

Kai pushed. "Sure about that, for the short time you have been there you seem to fit in."

"No offense but Damon and I just can't stay." Bonnie put in.

"And we would kind of feel like outsiders since everyone else here is Parker's and related, but Bonnie and me aren't. We wouldn't want to mess with the family vibe you all have going here." Damon added.

"Don't be silly, me and my family would easily adopt you into the Parker family and treat you like one of our own." Kai insisted.

"Thanks, but no thanks. There is just an important place where he and I need to get to. And we wouldn't get it it if we remained here." Bonnie described.

Damon clarified. "We decided there is a goal we have to reach in our traveling, and this village isn't where we are meant to be in our lives. We just have to head into a different direction, but as my friend said we mean no offense by it."

Kai murmured. "Well, if either of you ever change your mind there is a place here in this village for you."

The two of them gave Kai a symbol out of respect for his offer. Although neither of them was willing to reveal where exactly they were going. That and the location of the settlement in Virginia was something they were going to keep between themselves.

"May I ask when you are leaving?" Kai questioned them.

"After discussing it last night, we decided we were going to leave in the next day or so." Damon responded.

"...Perhaps the day after tomorrow to get one more day of rest before going on." paused Bonnie.

"Understandable, hey we'll just make sure to give you one excellent parting gift during the party tonight." Said Kai.

Damon gestured. "We agreed that we're looking forward to letting loose and having some fun. Right, Bon-Bon."

Bonnie exclaimed. "Right!"

Kai looked down at his watch. "I'm hungry myself, so I better get to the cafeteria to get some breakfast in me."

"Sure, we will just be hanging out right here." Damon gave a nod.

"I'll talk to you later I guess." Kai's eyes landed on Bonnie for a moment.

"Yeah, later." Bonnie acknowledged in a friendly tone.

Kai walked away in the direction of the cafeteria.

Damon turned his attention to her. "I think I could use some breakfast as well."

Bonnie eyed him. "Yeah, I'm hungry too."

"How about we share a breakfast of this deer meat." Damon suggested.

"Deer meat sounds like a delicious way to start a morning." Bonnie proclaimed.

So, he opened up the ziplock bag of deer meat they had packed, which was cold but still delicious. And they sat there sharing the meat between them, as they enjoyed each others company, eating until they were full and then saving the rest of their deer meat until later.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Once night time had fallen, the Parkers had began to throw the party that Kai said they would for Bonnie and Damon. Most of the village had gathered in Common's square. Where they all sat, stood, or mingled around in the party like atmosphere. With fire torches lighting the area and some music blasting out of a battery powered radio. Wine was spread around and many of them were drinking it, some of them were drinking it too much as they stumbled around drunk or tipsy.

Damon, along with Bonnie stood and watched in amusement, as some could barely stand on their feet and they were only an hour and a half into the party at this point.

That was when Ren Parker approached them. "How are you pair doing?"

The pair of them said in unison. "We're fine."

Ren wanted to know. "And are you enjoying yourselves."

"We are having a great time so far." Bonnie replied lightly.

"You folks do know how to throw one hell of a party!" Damon lifted his half empty glass of wine.

"We learn from experience." Ren's lips curve.

Damon snickered. "Seems like others are having a better time than we are though."

Ren wondered. "Who is that?"

Keeping her amusement Bonnie pointed. "Him over there."

Ren followed to where she was pointing to. There was Luke Parker, stumbling around, as he drunkenly sang off key to the song which was playing from a cassette tape on the radio.

"Oh, Luke he always overduleges himself when it comes to wine, speaking of which would either of you like more wine. We have plenty of bottles of it." Ren directed at them.

"Nah, I've had one and a half glasses already and I'm finished before I pushed myself too far with the drinking." Bonnie mentioned.

"I've had more than one and a half glasses, but I think this will be by last one. I wouldn't want to risk a hangover since me and Bonnie will be leaving the village in the next couple of days." Damon voiced.

Just then an upbeat song started on the radio. It was one of this upbeat, uptempo songs from the 90's.

"Hey, I love this song." Bonnie perked up as soon as she heard the first beat.

"Me too." Damon agreed after he got familiar with the songs lyrics.

"You should dance with me." Bonnie loudly over the music.

"Really, you like a dance from me." Damon was ecalastic with the idea.

Vocalizing with enthralment Bonnie chuckled. "We're here to let loose and have fun, remember so yes dance with me."

"Of course." Damon grinned from ear to ear.

"If you would excuse us, Ren." Bonnie addtionalized.

"No need to excuse yourself, I'll give it for you two to enjoy this party." Ren went on expressionless.

Bonnie then pulled Damon onto a area and she and Damon began to immediately dance to the upbeat music. Laughing, giggling as they moved together with the music. And just having a blast with each other, as they let loose. At one point Damon took Bonnie's arms and spun her around in a few circles, which caused her to giggle hysterically.

As they were busy dancing with each other, neither of them were aware of the set of eyes which were watching them from across the way. Those grey-bluish set of eyes which belonged to one Kai Parker.

He watched them and in particular Bonnie as she danced with Damon. Her arms wrapping around Damon's neck and his around her torso, as they swayed and gyrated together to the fast pace song. She was smiling brightly with her eyes locked onto Damon's face and Damon's on hers. Their dancing was cordial, yet with the undertones of being sexual. They danced like this for a few songs in a row. And during the time almost never taking their eyes off of each other, it was clear that Bonnie had deep interest in Damon and he in return.

Even after they had finished dancing and had moved over to one of the benches to sit down. Kai keep watching them while at the same time pretending he was minding his own business. They sat huddled together, with her hand resting on Damon's knee. Only interacting with each other and pretty much ignoring everyone else around them, even though the square was crowded with other people.

Kai eyed them down as they interacted this way for the next couple of hours. Bonnie's eyes brimming over with warmth as she eyed Damon. And Damon eying her as if he cherished the woman. They were surely having the time of their lives and it was with each other. Interacting like they were the only two in the world. They were joking and goofing around with each other. Then Damon leaned in and whispered something in her ear, whatever it was it had her tilting her head back and letting out joyful laughter in response. Then she said something to Damon which had him laughing in return.

Kai felt something like envy as he wished that she would laugh like that with him and interact with him, the way that she was interacting with Damon. They're interactions was subtle with the hints of how a romantic couple would be, not obvious but it was there.

Being so busy with his eyes locked on them, Kai jumped when he felt someone tap him on his shoulder. He saw it was Ren. "A little warning before you sneak up on me, will you."

"I wasn't sneaking up on you, you just weren't paying attention to your surroundings." Ren mumbled.

"I was paying plenty of attention." Kai tried playing it off.

"Not so, cousin and maybe you want to stop staring down the visitors before they realize that you have been watching them for the last couple of hours and get weirded out by it." Ren pointed out.

"What were you watching me, watching them?" Kai rolled his eyes.

Ren gestured with the nearly empty bottle of wine he carried with him. "Basically."

Kai grumbled. "Not like they would notice me watching them anyway, so I wouldn't have to worry about getting caught."

Ren observed. "They do seem to be really invested in each other at the time, like the surroundings around them don't matter."

Kai downed the remainder of the wine he had in his glass. "Obviously."

"Is there a particular reason why you have been staring at them all night." Ren pressed.

"Duh, it has everything to do with her, I've been watching them because of her." Kai confessed.

"So the Bonnie woman has drawn your interest, huh." Ren connected.

Kai keep looking across and the duo, as Damon slung his arm over Bonnie's shoulder. "She's drew my interest since I have first saw her, can you blame me."

Ren blinked. "She is quite the eye candy."

Kai leered. "More than eye candy that woman right there is the finest specimen I have ever seen."

"You just think that because you've haven't seen a girl unrelated to us in a while." Ren deadpanned.

"Not true, I've seen unrelated females around here." Kai returned.

"You know what I mean." Ren muttered.

Kai deadpanned. "I know what you mean."

Ren clutched at his wine bottle. "What are you going to do about it, just stare like some weirdo."

Kai scowled. "I'm not a weirdo."

This time Ren rolled his eyes. "I bet she would think of you as one if she knew you were watching her and that Damon fellow."

"Wrong, I feel like she would be into me." Kai puffed out.

"You're a riot, Cousin." Ren hawked out.

"I'm a riot, why do you say that." Kai said back.

"Because you think that the woman over there would be into you." Ren returned.

Kai finally removed his eyes from Bonnie and Damon to look at his cousin. "Bonnie would be into me, I know that she would. Is is as a matter of fact."

Ren moved his hands. "How so?"

Kai motioned. "She has been nice to me so far."

"Just because a girl is nice to you, doesn't mean she wants to get into your pants." Ren shook his head.

" I could drawn Bonnie's interest to me in such a manner, she'd be attracted to me and want into my pants, if I had the time to convince her, she and I would be perfect together." Kai's tone was filled with arrogance.

"You don't have time, she's leaving in a day or two with Damon." Ren stated.

Kai flexed his fingers. "This is the reason I tried to convince them on staying around a while longer, if I could have talked them into living here, then I have the opportunity to win her over to my side."

Ren grunted. "She's pretty set on leaving, so how will you get that opportunity."

An expression entered onto Kai's face. "Guess I will have to change tactics or getting her to stay in the village long enough for me to have a chance with her. There is still time to get her to stay before they leave."

"Fine, let's say you get her to stay. There is still not a guarantee that you'll win her over. If you hadn't notice her and Damon are attached at the hip. And I doubt he would want to leave her behind, so it means he will stay too." Ren commented.

"I've taken notice of it." Kai pouted.

"Perhaps you should always notice how entranced Bonnie seems to be by Damon. They seem super close and more than just in a friendly way. Which means your chances of winning her over are in less, when she has eyes for another man and it happens to be him, I hate to break it to you, but she won't give you the time of day as long as he is around." Ren mentioned.

Kai tried sarcastically. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ren."

Ren pointed out. "I'm just telling you the truth, cousin. Damon throws a major wrench in your desires to have her."

Kai admitted. "He does, I'll have to find a way to convince him to leave and part separate ways from her."

"And if you can't convince him to part ways with her?" Ren forwarded.

"Then I will have to find a way to get him out of the picture and away from her." Kai narrowed his eyes maliciously.

Ren gave him a questioning look, wondering what he meant exactly by that.

"We will have to find a way to deal with Damon." Kai added.

"Did you just say we." Ren blinked away.

"We as in you and some other Parker men will help me get what I want, what I want in Bonnie." Kai determined.

Running a hand through his long, greasy hair, Ren was perplexed. "If you're the one who wants her, then why do we have to help you?"

An vicious thought ran through Kai's mind. "Because she is the one."

Ren instantly knew what Kai was talking about, it was something that only the Parker family would get as they had discussed matters among themselves. "You really believe she is the one."

Kai established. "She is the one, the one who've I've been seeking out, the one who will strength the Parker family and our cause, so getting her is not just important for me, but for all of us as well."

"If you believe she is the one who will benefit our family goals, then I will help you get what you want." Ren toned.

"Good, you now our slogan." Kai darkly said.

"Parkers before everyone." Ren hinted.

"And we must get Damon out of our way for the families sake." Kai pressed.

"So how do we get rid of him." Ren had to know.

Kai stared ahead. "Gather Liv. Jo, Luke the rest of our siblings and some of the others. Tell them to meet us before the night is over with and we'll go over the details of getting rid of our Damon problem and how to make sure that his traveling partner remains in our village for good."

Ren moved away to do just what Kai had told him to do.

Kai returned his attention to Bonnie and Damon. He watched again as Bonnie mouthed something to him. Kai was too far away to hear her words, but with reading her lips, she told Damon had she was tired now and was ready to go to bed. Damon then mouthed back how he was pooped out as well.

Then they stood from there benches and Bonnie took Damon by his hand, and she lead Damon away from the Common's square and slipped into the darkness with him which was on the edge of the light that the torches omitted.

Kai assumed the two of them were returning to the house which Jo had set up for them and was filled with envy at how Damon got to share a space with her alone. But, then Kai made himself feel better, telling himself he would soon have her once Damon was out of the way.

So, while Damon and Bonnie slept unaware in their cots, Kai gathered his siblings, along with Ren and some other Parkers and they spent the night scheming on how to tear them apart.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

The following day was overcast, grey and very cloudy, with heavy signs that it was going to rain sometime within that day. Damon and Bonnie had woken up in their cots, shared more of the deer meat they had for breakfast and drunk some water.

Then Damon opened the door, viewing the sky. "Check this out."

"What?" Bonnie sat on the cot putting on her shoes.

"The weather, I think it's going to rain soon." Damon made the statement.

She got up from the cot and joined him next to the doorway, inspected the sky along with him. "I believe you are right, it does look like rain."

He said. "Hopefully if it starts to rain soon then it won't mess with our plans to travel tomorrow."

She declared lightheartedly. "Eh, afraid of getting wet, Salvatore."

"No, I'm not afraid of getting wet, I was just saying." Damon gave her a goofy expression to playfully mock her.

"Very funny." Bonnie slapped him on his shoulder in high spirits.

They rested in the doorway having small talk conversation with each other.

Then Luke approached them. "Hi, welcome to this fine new day."

"Uh, Hi there." Bonnie returned.

"How's the hangover?" Damon questioned as he could smell the wine coming from Luke's breath.

"It's tolerable." Luke lied even though his head was pounding from the wine he had. The scheme he had discussed with Kai and his family members from the night before made him have to get up to get their plan started. He set out to play his part even when he wanted to just sleep his hangover off.

Bonnie and Damon just looked at each other in amusement, remembering how Luke had stumbled around last night, barely being able to stand on his feet. They knew that the hangover had to be more serious than Luke was letting go.

Luke slurred his words slightly. "Damon, I really need to see you for a minute."

Damon raised a brow. "Why?"

"You two are leaving tomorrow." Luke mentioned.

"We are." Damon nodded.

"Well, after discussing matters with Kai, he,,,,we don't want our guests to live empty handed. We have supplies which will help you on your travels." Luke told him.

"Wow, that's a generous offer." Said Bonnie.

Damon put in. "Yeah, we will appreciate those supplies depending on what they are."

Luke gestured. "There's too many supplies to list what exactly they are, but they are helpful when traveling, I hope that you take some with you."

Damon asked. "Where are these supplies?"

"They're in the storage cellar next to the cafeteria, if you would like to come with me, I'll show you and you can select which supplies to take with you." Luke told him.

"Alright." Damon said

"Follow me." Luke kept his face expressionless.

"Just a minute." Damon pivoted towards Bonnie. "I'll go see if there is something useful we can take with us."

"Okay, I'll just roam around to pass the time until you're done." Said Bonnie.

Reaching out he brushed his fingertips lightly against her fingertips in a affectionate way, and she responded with a tender smile directed at him.

Damon then winked at her. "I'll be back."

She gave him a nod.

"Show me those supplies." Damon redirected at Luke.

"This way." Luke went as he was gleaming on the inside, Damon had no idea what was about to come to him.

As Damon followed Luke, he walked several blocks and streets away from where he had last left Bonnie. He followed Luke for a block more and they stopped next to a buildings where Damon assumed was the cafeteria.

Next to the building there was an two doors that he figured was the celler.

Luke opened the door to the cellar and moved to the side. "As our guest, you should go first."

"Sure." Damon moved to the entrance of the celler, looked down and saw darkness. He patted the pockets of his coat. "Darn."

"Something wrong?" Luke asked.

"I, uh forgot my flashlight in my duffle bag and left by duffle bag back in the room where the cot I slept on is. I use to to see in dark places, I should go back and get it." Damon mumbled.

However, Luke stopped him. "No, No there is no need for you to have to go all of the way back, we have torches to see our way through the dark." Luke went and retrieved a fire light torch and handed it to Damon.

Taking the torch Damon gave gratitude to Luke.

Luke told Damon. "After you."

So, Damon took the stairs down to the inside of the cellar. Once he feet hit the cellar used the torch to try to see what supplies was in the darkened place.

Luke soon stepped in after him.

Walking in a little further, Damon scanned the area with his torch, expecting to see the supplies that the Parkers said they wanted to give to him and Bonnie. But, what he saw was anything but those supplies. He was in such disbelief at what he saw at first that he had to do a double take.

But, once his mind had caught up with what his eyes spotted, Damon was absolutely horrified. There were corpses, naked human corpses hanging from the low ceiling of the cellar. They were hanging from ropes and chains, with their arms, legs and head chopped off, so that only their torsos were hanging. They were hanging in the way that butchers would hang raw cattle meat in their fridges but this was human corpses.

On a table in the corner there were the dismembered legs, arms hands, and feet of humans. Then on another table there was a bunch of axes covered in blood, which was no doubt human blood and it was clear that the axes were used to chopped the human bodies up.

"The fuck is this shit." Damon was sickened at the sight. Then he connected the dots, this cellar was next to the cafeteria, the cafeteria where the Parkers gathered to eat their so called meals.

"You're cannibals." Damon's tone was shocked and he was grossed out.

"Congratulations, you've discovered our secret of our food source." Luke spoke from behind Damon.

"Your family sustain themselves through eating humans." Damon twirled around to face Luke.

Luke shrugged. "Yes, we do."

Damon made a face. "That's is disgusting."

Luke was nonchalant about it. "The Parkers eat what we have to in order to survive in this world."

This was when it hit Damon. "Wait, you never intended to show me supplies, you just lead me down here because you wanted me to see these corpses and discover that you all are cannibals."

"You figure out things fast." Luke clapped.

"Now why in the fuck would you intend on showing me your repulsive diet habits." Damon sneered.

"Because we all decided to give you an ultimatum." Luke's eyes went wild.

"Who is we and what ultimatum do you speak of?" Damon snapped out.

The blonde haired Parker twin explained gleefully. "The we I speak of is my family….well all of my siblings and some of my cousins. And the ultimatum is that you either do as we say or end up like one of those corpses."

Damon's demeanor turned cold. "Did you just threaten my life."

A nasty smile crossed Luke's face. "I would call if more of a warning and again an ultimatum."

The Salvatore man clenched his fists at his sides. "What warning is that?"

"Leave….." Luke replied.

"I'll gladly leave right away, with Bonnie after I learned about your families disgusting cannibalism." Damon cut Luke off.

Luke held up a finger. "I wasn't finished, you leave here and continue on with your travels, but you'll have to leave alone and leave Bonnie behind."

Damon snorted without the humor. "There's no way I'm leaving Bonnie with you sick freaks."

Luke wagged that same finger. "I think you would want to reconsider that."

"What in the world makes you believe that I would ever leave her behind." Damon flexed his hands.

"You would do so if you value your own life and want to remain alive." Said Luke.

"I don't get it, why does it matter to you if she stays or not?" Damon was confused on this matter.

"Because Bonnie is the one." Luke grumbled.

Lifting his fingers in air quotes, Damon went. "The one, what in the hell is that suppose to mean."

That wild eyed look returned to Luke's eyes. "The one, the chosen mate that each of us will choose for the destiny and the future of the Parker family."

Damon squinted like Luke had lost his mind. "Right now you're just speaking a bunch of nonsense that I don't get."

"Let me explain it to you more slowly then." Luke paused as a couple of other men came down to the cellar to join him.

They were the other two Parker brothers Jason and Morgan, as they stood at the side of Luke, Damon's alertness raised up.

"You see, we haven't had a newborn Parker in sixteen years, which may not seem like a big deal at the moment, but further down the line it will become a problem as the older Parker's will start to age and eventually die. Then the rest of us would eventually age and die which would mean no more Parker family around if all of us die out."

"For the future of the Parker family we have to ensure that we go on for generations more and the only way we can do that is if new babies are born, raised and grow as Parkers. But, because of the circumstances of the world not just any person can carry the Parker genes. We made a pact between us that we would only pick the finest of mates." Luke slowly told Damon.

"A pact?" Damon was weary of what this meant.

"A pact between me and my siblings, you see my brothers, sisters, and me were put in charge as the leaders the ones to make sure that the Parker family lives on by each of us creating children with the mate of our choosing. Each of us taking turns to pick that one, the one for every single one of us. But, so far none of us has been able to find that mate, will until now that is." Luke finished.

Suspicion entered into Damon's tone. "Let me guess Kai thinks that it's his turn."

Luke tsked. "Kai claims he knew that she was the one when he very first spotted her with you, he found his one before the rest of us could and intends on making Bonnie his mate."

"You bunch are lunatics with all of this one talk, I don't give a damn about the future of the Parker Klan and Bonnie won't either. You are a bunch of morons if you think she'll be a mate to your brother." Damon glared.

"Maybe you're wrong, right at this moment as we speak, Kai is about to work on convincing Bonnie to pair up with him and be his one." Luke confessed.

"This whole getting me over here for supplies was just a distraction to get me away from her, so that Kai could have a talk with her." The red flags raised up in Damon.

Luke conceded. "Yes, he'll be alone with her to appeal her to his side."

Damon realized that this was all a trick the whole time, the Parkers never invited him and Bonnie out of the kindness of their heart, but because Kai had some sort of obsession towards Bonnie the moment he saw her.

Damon snarled in disapproval at figuring this out. "Doesn't matter what he says to her to try and appeal to her, she'll never go for it. Once Bonnie hears about Kai's crazy idea about her being his mate. She'll reject him, and think that he is nuts and won't want to have anything to do with him."

Luke's lips curved downward. "How do you know what she will do?"

"Because I know Bonnie, she reject Kai and promptly tell him to fuck off." Damon smirked.

"What makes you think that Bonnie would have a real choice in the matter?" Luke retorted.

"She never go along with what the Parker's what from her, trust me you all would find out the hard way if you try to cross the line with her, because she isn't the one." Damon went on, chilled by how Luke had just said those words.

A harsh sound came into Luke's voice. "Too bad you figure she could get her way out of this. Our plans are set and there is no way of changing them, if Bonnie doesn't choose to join my brother after he asks her to, then there are other ways to get her to be his mate."

Damon became very irritated. "Are you implying that your brother will try to force Bonnie into being with him."

Luke humped a shoulder. "If she tries to fight or resist him, than Kai will have to force her to be his mate and his one through any means necessary for the sake of the family. It makes that if he'll have to physically be with her to make babies, he'll do what it takes whether she likes or or not. She has no choice really."

Damon's irritation grew into anger. "He would force her to be with him against her will, even if she doesn't want him, he'll try to make her have sex with him without her consent. That's damn rape."

Luke dismissed. "You're going by old world standards of morals, I see. But, the world has long ago changed. Crimes and the rule of law, in what it used to be no longer exists. It doesn't matter if you think that it's wrong, what does matter if the survival of future generations, especially ours, And we need men and women to create children in order for that to happen."

"If Kai attempts to force himself physically on Bonnie or hurt her in any way, shape or form, I'll will make him pay a dear price. And he will suffer a great deal for even touching a single hair on her head. So, will any of you who attempts to hurt her." Damon warned in an aggressive manner.

"You shouldn't worry about her well being, I think you should be concerned more with your well being." Luke tsked.

"I'll show you who should be concerned about who's well being, if you don't change your course and leave Bonnie alone, you'd better let her go now." Damon stated in a deadly tone.

"Are you threatening us." A smug expression returned to Luke's face.

Damon tightened his hold on the torch he was holding. "I'm promising you that I will kill your brother, you and everyone of your family members who tries to cause physical harm to Bonnie, I'm telling you, you'd better let her go, it would be smart if you let us walk out of here."

The Parker twin mocked the Salvatore man before him. "You are in no position to make threats, with both you and her outnumbered. You seriously believe that you could take all of my family members down and make it out of here alive. Don't try to be a hero, you'll fail and your friend will be Bonnie's mate no matter what you try to do to save her."

Not afraid or intimidated by Luke's words, nor Jason and Morgan also being in the cellar, Damon stepped up to Luke. "I do have a background in murdering many people and while I do have my regrets on some of the murders from my past. I will have zero about taking out you and your family. Now I suggest you get the hell out of my way, let me get Bonnie and alive us to get out of here unharmed."

Luke frowned. "Poor guy, we're giving you a last chance to walk away. You are lucky we let you be alive for this long, because most of the time we hunt, kill and eat whoever wanders into or near our village. If you want your luck to continue you would walk away right this moment."

"Now you have a choice to make, you either leave Bonnie behind and walk out here alive. Or you'll do the stupid thing and decide to go against us, which will result in your death." Luke gave the ultimatum.

Damon spat out without hesitation. "Screw you, I'm not going nowhere without Bonnie."

Luke signaled to his brothers. "Kai was afraid you might refuse our warning, don't say we didn't give you as chance. Now we will have to kill you."

Jason and Morgan lunged at Damon, grabbing him which caused the torch Damon was holding to fall to the cement floor of the cellar. Jason grabbed one side of Damon, and Morgan the other. Immediately Damon started to struggle to get out of their grasp.

Then Luke went and got one of the axes, and stood in front of Damon. "Hold him done so I can chop him up." Luke demanded of his brothers.

Cursing, Damon fought with all of his strength in a attempt to get away from the demented trio of Parker brothers.

"Hold him still." Luke ordered with a nasty grin on his face. He waved the axe, almost hitting Damon several times. However, all of the wine he had drunk the next before was still in his system, which caused him to lose some coordination and not be on target with his hits.

Seeing that Luke was still very much hungover, Damon decided to use his sloppy, off target movements to his advantage. As it had brought him some time by avoiding getting hit with the ax. With all of his might, Damon kicked his booted foot out as hard as he could. It hit Luke square in his mid section.

Caught off guard, Luke stumbled back, as the kick had forced the air briefly out of his lungs. At the same time, Luke landed back on his butt hard, making him lose grip on his axe.

Using his training to his advantage, Damon managed to maneuver his arm free from the grasp of Morgan. Quickly, he flipped Jason off of him before either of them could recover. Then Morgan lunged at him once more, trying to grab a hold of him again. But, Damon was fast and he countered Morgan with a vicious uppercut, landing right underneath Morgan's chin.

The hit was so hard that it caused Morgan's top and bottom teeth to slam together, and his jaw instantly to break. Morgan fell backwards, causing his head to hit the cement floor with a brutal crack. This made Morgan's lights go out, and he was knocked out and worse, as blood leaked out of his head and onto the floor.

Jason charged at Damon and at the same time, Damon scrambled for the axe which Luke had dropped. Just as Jason took a swing at him with his fist, Damon ducked, proceeding to fling out the blade side of the axe towards Jason. The axe sliced through Jason's face, cutting through the flesh like hot butter, Jason made a loud sound of pain as he fell to his knees. He held half of his face in his hands, with the skin, blood and flesh being torn away from his face due to the axe. Jason wallowed around on the ground, with a freshly disfigured face, dying a slow and painful death.

"You bitch, those were my brothers, you ruined everything." Luke cried loudly.

"You'll join them too, you all messed with the wrong duo." An outraged Damon held up the bloody blade of the axe.

Desperately, Luke tried to run for the table where the axes were, to get another axe to weaponize himself against Damon. But, Damon knew what he was about to do and threw the axe towards Luke as he was running. Luke was stopped in his tracks as the axe blade hit him dead in the center of his spine. The blade hitting his back with such speed and force that it dug in all the way to the handle of the axe.

Luke fell front forward to the ground, as the axe had immediately cut through his spine and killed him. Just like that Damon had taken out three Parker brothers within minutes. But, he knew that it wasn't over, Kai was somewhere in the village alone with Bonnie and Damon knew that Bonnie wouldn't go along with Kai's plan of her being his mate. Which meant that Kai would physically hurt and harm her if he wanted to. He had to stop lunatic Kai before Bonnie was put in the position to get hurt by the psychopath or his family of cannibals.

Damon ran for the stairs, which would lead him out of the cellar, he had a serious need to get to Bonnie and get the both of them out of this horrid place. But, just as he reached the bottom of the stairs he heard footsteps from near the top of the stairs. Then he heard voices.

"He's in there, don't let him get out." One of the male voices said.

"Keep him away, so that Kai can see his plan through," Came Liv's voice.

From where he was, Damon couldn't exactly see the people who were at the top of the stairs. But, he could tell there were multiple men and women there from the Parker klan, who were no doubt both trying to kill him and keep him apart from Bonnie so that Kai's sick plan could succeed. He also could tell they had guns and knew he couldn't just go running out there, unless he wanted to be shot. Plus, added to the fact that he was outnumbered.

"Hey, Damon we're going to chopped you all up and eat you for dinner." The first male who had spoke called out to him.

"Twisted, disgusting motherfuckers." Damon mumbled in response.

"Come out here and surrender yourself, we have you trapped down there." The male voice of the unknown Parker relative added.

Damon searched around for an item to defend himself with, none of the Parker brothers he had just killed had guns on them. He did have his revolver concealed underneath his coat, but it wasn't going to be enough for the group of foes crowded just outside of the doors if the cellar, waiting for him to come out so that they could kill him. And his hunting rifle was back attached to his duffle bag in the small village house which he and Bonnie had spent the last couple of nights it. He didn't carry it around with him, because he didn't feel like he needed to.

He knew that he needed a major weapon to be able to handle such a group of people. Frantically, Damon searched around the room for something that he could use to defend himself with and something that could take out a bunch of people at the same time.

It was when he spotted a couple of bottles of drinking alcohol at the corner of the room, saw some rags, and then his eyes fell to the torch he had dropped. It was still lite with fire. Damon then came up with an impulsive idea to defend himself with.

Molotov cocktails, Damon thought to himself. He had to make molotov cocktails and make them quick before those group of people came down the stairs to try and come after him. He also realized that he needed to hurry as Bonnie was somewhere alone with Kai Parker and in real physical danger, he had to get to her before she got hurt.

He hurried towards the bottles of alcohol, pulled off the caps on them both and used the rags and proceeded to make those Molotov cocktails. Then he picked up the torch from the floor and used it to lit both from rags which were sticking out of the bottles. Damon creeped up the edge of the stairs.

"I promise you whoever tries to harm Bonnie will not live past this day." Damon yelled out the warning to make sure the group at the top of the stairs heard him.

"Just come out right now and give yourself up, before we have to come down there and get you, it will make your death easier." Liv yelled back down to him.

"Fuck this," Damon ran up the stairs with the two flaming Molotov cocktails in his hands.

Reaching near the top of the stairs, he saw just as he suspected a group of armed Parker men and women, there were about fifthteen of them in total, all grouped together, in a close bunch. Which Damon saw worked in his favor for his plan to defend himself.

When the group heard his booted steps coming up the stairs, they aimed their guns at the opening of the cellar pairing to shoot Damon at the very first sight of them. Instead they saw two flaming bottles filled with liquid launched in their direction as Damon had tossed them. Before they could react to it, the bottles fall to the ground at their fight and the glass shattered, spreading the flamable liquid, all over them. Mixed with the liquid, the flames exploded into a fire, which consumed the majority of the group.

All of them screamed out in pain as the fire lit their clothes and burned through their flesh and skin. Some of them collasped to the ground, others ran in the other direction, with their entire bodies on fire trying to put on the flames.

"Burn you fuckers." Damon vocalized as he got his revolver out of his coat to prepare to shot any remaining that didn't get taken out by the Motolov cocktails. When he exited all of the way out, he saw that there was only two people left out of the group. The cocktails had taken down most of the rest of them, since they were in such close range of each other. But, two were left standing as they stared in disbelief at their relatives being burned alive.

One of them as Liv and the other one was an male Parker, which Damon didn't know the name of.

Once Liv realized he had gotten out of the cellar, she pointed, visiably upset at witinessing what had just happen to her family at the hands of Damon.

"There he is, shot him." Liv pointed.

The male relative began to turn his body towards Damon, to shot him with the assault rifle he had. But, the distraction of him watching some of the burning people around him made his reaction time a second slower than Damon's. The second slower was enough for Damon to shoot the male relative square in the head with his revolver.

This caused the male relative's skull and brains to burst and scatter, as the bullet pierced his head. The gore from the impact of the bullet spattlered all over Liv, who squealed as she was covered by her relatives brain matter.

Then Liv saw a very pissed off looking Damon approach her with his revolver drawn.

"Where is she?" Damon snapped out the answer at Liv.

"You, you just killed some of my Uncles and cousins." Liv eyed him with wide eyes. Hinting at the ones who had gotten burned by the cocktails and who were mostly dead, or either burned so severely that they were close to dead.

"I killed your brothers too and I'm about to kill the fourth when I get to Kai." Damon's tone was icy, he could have cared less about Liv's feelings or the fact that she was bothered by how some of her family had just died.

"No, how could you…" Liv croaked.

Damon eyed her down in a deadly fashion. "You could join them as well."

Realizing that she was in major trouble, Liv looked around to try counter Damon with something, her eyes went to the assault rifle which her male relative who had gotten his brains blown out held.

Bring one step ahead of her, Damon shot her in her leg with his revolver.

Liv fell to the ground as the bullet went through her leg, making her knee buckle out from under her, she screeched out in agony.

He went up and picked up the assault rifle, holding the assault rifle in one hand and his revolver in the other.

The remaining Parker twin tried to crawl away with her bleeding leg wound. Stopping her from getting far, Damon used his foot stepped down on the very same leg he had shot through.

"Tell me where does Kai have Bonnie?" Damon asked Liv with impatience.

"I don't know, don't shoot me." Liv squirm underneath the heel of his boot.

"Where, I know he has to have her somewhere else in the village then where I last left her." Damon raised his voice.

On the ground, Liv shook her head from side to side. "He didn't say where he was going to speak to her, just that he was going to get her to be his one."

"And physically harm her once she says no." Damon lashed out with fury.

"Don't shoot me, I'm unarmed and defenseless." Liv's eyes bugged out when she saw the dangerous look in Damon's icy blue eyes.

"I'm going to kill every last one of you who gets in ,my way of getting to Bonnie." Damon sincerely let Liv know, and he meant every word of that.

"Fine, I'll surrender, I'll tell you where he plans to see Bonnie." Liv babbled once she saw that Damon was serious about killing whoever stood in his way.

"Spill it." Damon aimed his revolver at her.

Afraid she was going to end up dead, Liv rattled off where they planned to have Kai corner Bonnie at. "...and that where she is, you have to believe me."

"Oh, I believe you." Damon lowly said.

Liv let out a breath of relief, believing she was out of the woods. "So, you'll let me live."

Damon denied her. "Nah, I'm not going to let you live."

Liv balked. "But, but I told you where she is. You can't kill me."

"Not only did you help try to hand Bonnie over to Kai like she is a piece of property, you just tried to have me killed a few minutes ago." Damon went with his mood turning darker.

"I'm sorry, okay, let me go and I'll talk my brother into letting you and Bonnie go free out of here." Liv pleaded.

"Too late, should have thought about that before you backstabbed me and her. And put her in danger for your families vindictive scheme" Damon's told her with cold rage.

"Wait…" Liv put her hands up as if trying to shield herself.

Without hesitation or regret, Damon pulled the trigger of his revolver, shooting Liv in the head at point blank range, felt zero remorse for it afterwards because Liv just like any other person who messed with him and especially Bonnie were his enemies.

And he had no problems with killing his enemies if he needed to. He was going to make sure the Parkers knew that crossing that line with him and the woman in which he had deep feelings for, was the worst mistake that they ever made in their life time.

Just moments after he had shot Liv at point blank range, he heard more voices coming in his direction. Shouting that they had heard gunshots and coming to inspect what happen. They were more armed Parkers intending to try and kill him and imprison Bonnie to a 'relationship' with Kai. Damon wasn't going to have it, not without a fight.

He was desperate to get to Bonnie, greatly concerned for her well being, knowing that she was in grave danger around Kai. He had a whole villiage to cross to get to her in order to save her and another whole bunch of Parkers in his way which would attempt to stop him, kill him, eat him. He was in the fight for both him and her life.

Damon pocketed his revolver in his coat and took a hold of the assault rifle with both hands. As he heard more of them rush for him, he took cover, preparimg to shoot himself out of this situation if he needed to. Her well being and maybe even her life was on the line and he didn't know how much time he had to get to her. But, he was willing to do all he could to assure it of happening.

Detrimination filled him. "Hold on, Bon, I'm coming to rescue you."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **This is the longest chapter that I have ever written. To those of you who took the time to read this entire update, Thank you. I know that it is very long and it takes a lot of patience to read through. So, I appreciate those who are still supporting this story.**

 **I was going to write the confrontation between Bonnie and Kai down, but this update got longer than what I thought it would be already. So, you'll have to see what happens with Bonnie and Kai in the next chapter, and whether or not Damon will get to her in time.**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors that I have missed.**


	13. Chapter 13

**This upcoming scene with Bonnie has been taking place at the exact same time as Damon's scene is playing out with Luke and the other Parkers. Discovering that they are cannibals, what their intention with Bonnie is and having to fight his way out etc…..**

Shortly after Damon went off with Luke to get those supplies, Bonnie decided to pass the time until he got back and since she wanted a little fresh air, she decided to pass the time by going on a mini walk.

After stopping by and using the outhouse to do her business. She santized her hands with the small bottle of hand sanitizer she had with her, then she began to go on her planned walk around the village. She walked around for close to fifthteen minutes, then noticed how chilly it seemed to be getting the temperature appeared to be dropping lower. Then the overcast skies started to release a light cool drizzle.

Bonnie took this as her cue to go back to the shelter of the room she had been sharing with Damon, just it case it started to rain heavier. There she would wait for his return to see what supplies he had gotten from Luke and how helpful it would be on their continued journey once they had left the village tomorrow.

Halfway back to where she was trying to get, a voice called out for her.

"Bonnie, there you are." Jo was the voice who had called out.

Because Jo had called out from behind her, Bonnie stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Uh, hey, Jo."

"I've been looking all over for you." Jo stopped next to her.

"Really, why?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"I just really need to see you." Jo replied.

Bonnie fully faced her now. "What it is,Jo?"

Jo acted like she was frantic about something. "We have an emergency."

Bonnie was brought to attention. "Emergency, what it is?"

"I can't explain it to you here, but I do need your help or our village could be in trouble." Jo added.

"Sure, I'll help however I can." Bonnie was somewhat alarmed, wondering what kind of trouble it was. And if the trouble meant that the village was in some type of danger.

"Follow me to the town hall." Jo directed towards Bonnie.

Worried about the source of trouble, Bonnie followed Jo to discover was. Jo lead her down blocks, until they came up upon the building in which the Parker family held their town halls. Bonnie was on Jo's heels as they entered into the town hall building.

Once they entered the building Jo turned to an unsuspecting Bonnie, who had no clue about her family's true intentions or what was really about to happen. Jo herself wasn't as on board with what Kai wanted to do with Bonnie or Damon for that matter.

But, Jo was also family first before everything, she didn't agree with Kai's schemes completely, but still was in on the plan because she had to do what she had to do for the betterment of the Parkers. It was sort of a shame, since Jo thought that Bonnie appeared to be a nice woman.

Bonnie looked around the large room, there were a bunch of stair chairs all in a row and a speaker stand at the front of the room. But, there wasn't another person in the room besides her and Jo. The room was empty and she didn't see anything.

"Where is the trouble?" Bonnie questioned.

"Just over this way." Jo muttered and lead Bonnie over to a smaller room.

The smaller room had a desk, with one big desk chair behind it and was some kind of office, but again Bonnie saw nothing. She was about to question Jo once more.

"Please wait right here." Jo told her.

"Why did you bring me here for saying that there is trouble? I don't get it." Bonnie was perplexed.

"Wait here and you'll soon see." Jo started with a strange expression appearing on her face.

Bonnie eyed the brunette Parker woman with confusion.

Jo quickly left the room without saying another word.

Placing the hands on her hips, Bonnie thought that Jo was behaving oddly during the last couple of minutes, but just put it off on Jo having her mind on whatever trouble that there was suppose to be.

A minute or so passed by and Bonnie stood in the room alone for Jo to return. Just as she was about to exit to see what the hold up was the door to the room opened again. Bonnie was expecting Jo to come back with an explanation.

But, the person who entered into the room with her wasn't Jo, it was Kai instead. Upon seeing her standing there in the room alone, Kai primed himself up, he had her where he wanted her, a chance to win her over to his side without Damon being immediately around her.

"Bonnie?" Kai acted like he was surprised to see her there.

"Kai?" Bonnie returned since she thought it would be Jo.

"What are you doing in here?" Kai pretended like he wasn't expecting to be here in this room at all.

Looking around the office, Bonnie replied. "I was lead here."

Kai asked. "Really, by who?"

Bonnie answered, "Jo, she told me to follow her here, then she told me to wait here for her."

Kai stood by the door. "Interesting, don't know why Jo would what you in here."

"There's an emergency." Bonnie spoke up.

"An emergency you say." Kai went.

"Aren't you guys dealing with some sort of emergency right now?" Bonnie inquired.

Kai made it like he was none the wiser. "Not that I know of."

The Bennett shook her head. "You don't know, there is some sort of trouble happening, at least according to Jo."

Kai scratched the top of his head. "Have no clue why Jo mentioned there was trouble, because there is no trouble, neither is there an emergency."

"You're sure about that." Bonnie frowned.

""Very sure, all is fine and well in the Parker Village." Kai said.

"Then why would Jo say that there is trouble." Bonnie furrowed her brow, even more confused.

Kai made a motion with his hands. "You know, I'm going to be honest with you here."

She wondered what Kai was preferring to.

"Jo is very mentally ill." Kai claimed.

"She is?" Bonnie was taken aback.

"I know when you first meet her, it may not seem obvious to people who first meet her. But, it's well known in the Parker family that Jo has a mental illness, some days you wouldn't know that she has one. Then there are other times where the symptoms of her mental illness comes out in the clear." Kai put a sad look on his face.

Bonnie responded. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear of Jo struggling with mental illness, I guess it can't be easy to see someone you are close to with those issues."

Working on the fib he just told, Kai kept on, hoping to get Bonnie to feel sorry for Jo, then playing like he was so sad over Jo's mental illness, that she would feel sorry for him in return and he would be able to use it to his advantage by getting her to go along with his plans.

"It's really tough to see my sister go through it. Her mind wreaks havoc on her sometimes and it's heartbreaking for me, her brother to see. And there is no psychiatrist around to help her through her problems, so she goes untreated through her illness." Kai put a tone in his voice like he wanted to cry, even though he really didn't."

"Sounds difficult for Jo, you and your family. I never had known anyone to suffer with mental illness." Bonnie said as she pitied Jo. "But, at least she has the support system of your family to help her through it."

"Yes, she has to lean on me the most, I'm always there for her because she's my blood you know." Kai pressed a hand to his chest.

"You must be a really great brother then." Bonnie guessed,

Kai went on dramatically. "We Parkers always fight for family, especially me."

Even while she felt bad for Jo going through this mental illness, she was also relieved because…"I'm glad there is no real trouble going on, Jo had me very concerned for a moment."

Kai let out a breath. "We've all faced our fair share of trouble."

"Yeah,,well. If all is fine and well, then I guess I'll be heading back." Bonnie adjusted the wool beanie on her head.

"Why the rush?" Kai saw how she was about to leave the room.

"No rush, really I just figured that I ought to go back to the small house I've been staying at during my visit here." Bonnie shrugged.

This was when Kai saw his opprounity to make his move. "You wouldn't made staying here and chatting with me for a while would you."

"Chatting about?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"A topic which for me which I find interesting and you could find interesting to, if you'd give me this moment to listen to something I need to say to you." Kai started.

"Okay….I can't think of a topic of discussion which would interest both you and me." Bonnie deadpanned.

"Stick around to give me a chance to tell you and I think you'll agree with me." A certain gleam of a hopeful man entered Kai's eyes.

Bonnie sighed, she figured that it couldn't hurt. "Sure, I can chat with you for a few minutes I guess."

Kai smiled, believing his path to victory was now opened. "A few minutes is all I need."

Placing her hands in the pockets of her jacket, she waited for Kai to go on with whatever he wanted to chat about.

Licking his lips, Kai began. "My topic of discussion is loneliness."

",,,,,,,,,,Loneliness." Bonnie repeated the word after a pause.

"Yep, you heard me right." Kai nodded.

"Alright, how would you think that this topic would be a interest to me?" Bonnie didn't quite get it.

"It will be of interest to you, after you listen to what I have to say." Kai was so sure about this.

Bonnie just eyed him, she had only agreed to stick around and chat with him as a way not to be rude, but still had no clue where he was going with this thing. "If you say so."

Kai added. "As much as I love my family, enjoy spending time with them, there is just times where I feel lonely. Have you ever had times where you felt lonely, Bonnie?"

Bonnie deflected in a civil manner. "That's the kind of thing I wouldn't feel comfortable revealing to you. No offense, it's just I don't share personal information about myself unless I am very familiar with that person."

Kai shifted, "No offense taken, I'll just share with you again how I feel lonely at times."

She wasn't sure why he was sharing this type of information about himself with her, but played along with it. "Shocking with you having all of this family around here."

"I know it must be shocking for anyone to hear me say this, after all I have seventy family members around here, and one might think that it's impossible for me to feel lonely. But, there is still a type of love family just can't provide."

"For years now I've this feelings inside of me, this need to find something and someone more. Something that the Parkers can't provide me. Because I've wanted to find a romantic type of love. The woman who could be my one, my one which I could form a romantic relationship with. Build a future with and eventually have a family with and I've been waiting for years in hopes of finding such a woman." Kai finished wistfully.

"Oh, wow, well I'm sure you'll luck out and find her one day if you look hard enough." Bonnie commented to be nice.

"You believe so?" Kai smiled as he felt arrogance that she was appealing in favor of him.

Bonnie mentioned. "I mean some folks think that there is a person out there to match up with everyone, even in a world like this one. So if they are correct,then you can find a woman one day if you look hard enough."

Kai edged slightly closer to her. "Thing is I've already find her."

Bonnie gave him a gaze. "You have, is she somewhere else, because I haven't seen anyone else besides Parkers around here in relation to you."

"Boy, are you modest." Kai let out a laugh.

"Huh?" Bonnie blinked.

"I really wish you decided to stay in our village on a permanent basis, I think that it would be best for you." Kai pressed.

Bonnie's head nearly spun at his redirection. "I can't stay here and I have no desire to, although your family has built quite the establishment, it's just that staying here isn't to the benefit of either Damon or me."

Kai insisted in a low tone. "I'm just trying to look out for your here, I wish you would change your mind, again me and my family would welcome you if you wanted to live here for good."

Bonnie returned respectfully. "Sorry, I'm grateful that your family opened your homes up to us, and so is Damon. But, it just is not meant for either of us of to stay here, him and me just have to move on."

"I'm just trying to understand, you have the guarantees of shelter and a daily source of food if you lived here. Out there is a harsh, and if you travel, then food sources and finding shelter isn't as guaranteed." Kai pressed making sure to keep his tone friendly as if he cared.

"Yeah, it's a rough earth to navigate through on foot, then having to survive. Yet, Damon and I have manage to be doing well at it so far, so I think we'll be fine from here on out." Said Bonnie.

Kai disliked Damon's name being mentioned by her, but he didn't let it show on the outside. "The offer is still always open for the both of you to stay, think about that before you make a final decision to leave."

"Why are you so insisted on me staying here?" Bonnie was wondering why he kept pushing the issue, even though both her and Damon had told him several times that neither of them wanted to stay.

"To be honest with you, it's because you intrigue me. I happen to find you a loyal, smart, and kind woman." Kai tried with a flirt.

"Um…..alright." Bonnie reacted awkward, because Kai seemed to have just did a pick up line on him, but she wasn't feeling him in that way. So, him telling her what he just did just made her feel awkward and not flattered like he may have expected her to be.

Kai voiced with his best charming impression. "Which brings me back to the subject of being lonely. I was having trouble finding that one woman before, but I think my problems have been solved now, because I have found such a woman and the woman is you."

Bonnie's mouth dropped open, as she was caught off of her guard by what Kai had just told her. "Pardon me."

Kai hinted. "I said that the woman is you, you're the one I've been looking for, you are my one."

Bonnie moved her head from side to side in a negative fashion. "Kai,not sure where you are coming out of the blue with this bu…."

Kai interrupted her. "Not out of the blue, I've had a feeling that you were my one since I first saw you standing there with your gun drawn. When I came across you, everything told me that my search was over. And I admit, I want you to stay because I don't want to lose out on a potential chance with you."

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Seems like you're in a bit of a rush there, I'm not sure what you feel like you felt when you saw me, but it can't be possible you feel like you are saying, I mean you don't even really know me."

"Who says two people have to know each other a long time always, sometimes love happens at first sight and I know that it happened for me the first time I saw you." Kai pronounced in his classic cunning way.

"You must be mistaken." Bonnie felt nothing as he attempted to reveal this things to her, except for weirded out some, because he was someone who didn't know her on a personal level and vice versa.

"I'm not mistaken, I can tell you with a certainty that you are the woman I can see myself having the romantic relationship with in which I sought out for so long, I just know it deep down because I can see it inside of you and it matches what is inside of me. I hope you can see it too." Kai leered at her.

Even while she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the direction that Kai was taking the conversation, Bonnie decided to turn him down with a easy manner. "Look, Kai you seem like a decent man, but whatever you thought you have found when you saw me, I'm not feeling the same way about you and I hope you can find what you are looking for elsewhere but it's not with me."

Kai gestured between the two of them. "No need for me to look elsewhere, because after you whichever woman I ran across next will come up vastly short compared to you."

Bonnie vocalized. "Come on, how can you say that if I'm the first non-related woman you seen in a while, but whatever the case the woman you are looking for isn't me. But, I'm sure if you search hard enough you'll find a woman who would equally feel the same way about you as you do about her."

"I wish you could see how you were the one for me." Kai told her.

"But, I'm telling you I'm not." Bonnie tried to remain nice as she turned him away once more.

"Maybe I could prove differently to you." Kai kept on with his advances.

"There is nothing you can do to prove differently to me, because I mean it when I say I'm not interested." Bonnie told him seriously.

Still believing that he could have his way, Kai went with another tactic. "You feel like you aren't interested now, but I know you could feel the other way, if you would just give me a chance to change your mind. I really do like you a lot and I guarantee you would feel the same about me, if you give me the time of day to prove myself to you. I could show you an incredible time and give you an incredible life."

"Stay here, with me and you won't regret it. I'll see it is the best decision you could make for both of our lives. You are just the type of woman who would match up perfectly with me and I'll be your perfect match. Be with me, give me a chance. And you and I can build a future together in this world like no other couple did before us. Be with me and together we can be the one." Kai ended sure of himself.

However, Bonnie wasn't convinced by his speech. "I don't wish or want to be with you, I just don't picture myself ever seeing you in such a manner. Now I'm going to try to ask you as nice a possible to back up and drop the subject."

The grey-bluish eyed Parker didn't want to give up just yet. "If you were with me, then you would be treated like royalty around here by my family and me. You'd be treated like a queen. And us two would make for an unstoppable duo. I would treat you so well if you'd just became my woman, stay here and build a future with me, starting from this day let me provide you with a chance to be your man, because I really do think that you are intriguing woman and my one, I want a chance to start something with you."

Bonnie was losing her patience with him. "I don't want you, Kai. Nor will I ever want to be with you. I don't know how you figured you have these so called feelings towards me. But, they're not ones that I return towards you. I've only met you just a couple of days ago, so there is zero chance of me seeing you in such a way. Again, I'm letting you know I'm not interested. I'm telling you to stop and back off, if you were a decent man you would respect my decision. Because your pressing is starting to make me feel uncomfortable."

Kai disregarded her with yet another attempt to pick her up. "So, you don't have to get with me exactly on today, just stay here in this village, you don't have to travel or leave tomorrow. Prove to yourself you really don't want me and give me a shot to prove how wrong you are and I can be the man for you. You would become a huge part of the Parker family if you are with me. I can be your guy, the one for you, I want to be your one, so what do you say."

"No, I say No, No to being with you, no to staying here. No to any idea of a romantic relationship with you, just no. How many times do I have to say no before you get it." Bonnie snipped out.

"Please, don't be like this, Bonnie, don't do this to me or pass this opportunity up for yourself. You're breaking my heart here, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I let you just walk away." Kai begged, adding in a guilt trip to manipulate her for his gains.

"No means, fucking No. I've had to tell you multiple times in this conversation how I'm not interested in you, yet you keep pressing the damn subject. You and me will never happen in a million years. And now you are violating my boundaries. Get it into your head that I don't want you and leave me the hell alone." Bonnie huffed out losing her last shred of patience.

The arrogant and cocky smile fell from Kai's face. "Hey. relax I was just asking you for a chance."

She rolled her eyes. "And I gave you my damn answer, now stop begging me you look pathetic."

Seeing how his scheme of trying to sweet talk her had failed, Kai's ego was bruised and he became angry at her rejection. "This is the appreciation you show me for what I've done for you."

"Excuse you." Bonnie folded her arms across her chest.

"I opened up my village for a place for you to stop and rest, and you're being ungrateful for it. I deserve something back from you for my generous action." Kai turned on her with a blink of the eye, as his mood was now sour towards her.

"Seriously, I already thanked you for letting me stay here. Otherwise than that I don't owe you anything in return, certainly not the hook up between us you harassed me for. Just because it was helpful for a few days of rest here, doesn't mean I have to give you want you want." Bonnie said to him with a icy tone, she was no longer trying to be nice or respectful towards him.

"All I did was ask you out, you answered like some snob, stuck up woman with a stick up your ass, to me who was just paying you a compliment." Kai nastily blamed her.

Bonnie retorted with attitude. "Unbelievable the sense of entitlement you have to try and make it seem like I'm in the wrong, because I rejected you. When I have a right to refuse your advances. I try to turn you down nicely at first, but you made me have to be blunt with you. You are behaving like as ass at the moment by faulting me because I don't want you."

Kai said to her. "Really, you don't want me? I don't believe it, you were giving me signals all along which told me the opposite."

Bonnie scoffed. "How asinine, I never gave you signals to tell you I was interested in you."

Kai responded with rudeness. "Come on, you been giving it away, sending me looks and signals to make me believe I could win you over. Now you want to pretend otherwise but I know what I saw from you."

"Oh my God, you're cleary are delusional. You take me being civil with you and completely misread by intentions, then try to act like I lead you on or some bullshit. You are just the type of man who takes any sort of positive attention from a woman and assume she was to be with you or believe you being decent means that a woman should jump in the bed with you. As I said you have a sense of entitlement, you are wrong on so many accounts. It's not my fault your ego misinterpreted me."

"You're behaving in a bitchy way right now, losing out on the best experience I could provide you in your entire life time." Kai bitterly told her.

"First of all, you don't know me like that. Second calling me 'bitchy', ha you have a over inflated self worth, if you truly believe the bullshit coming out of your mouth. And now I recognize your nice guy act was just a facade for you to try to get me to stay here and join your side. However, I refused your advances and you, because of this you can't handle it and are showing your true colors, behaving like a total, immature manchild." Bonnie callously lashed him.

Kai thumbed his chest. "Shut up, you don't know how many women would jump at the chance to be with me, I'm the greatest, finest looking man they could lay eyes on."

She laughed without the humor. "Try not to flatter yourself, you're average at best and not all of that. Your jackass behavior is a real turn off, and any woman worth her smarts would run in the opposite direction when she saw you for what you are, just like I'm about to do."

Something entered into Kai's eyes. "Not accepting me is the biggest mistake you could ever make in your life."

"Whatever, I've had enough of this conversation with you. You have ruined by mood, and I no longer desire to stay in this village anywhere around you, so I'm going." Bonnie firmly told him.

"Just where do you think you are going?" Kai asked with a sneer.

"Going away from here, most importantly away from you, over staying this welcome, I think it's about time I leave here." Bonnie eyed him with what was going into intense dislike.

"You're not going anywhere just yet." Kai returned.

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "Indeed, I am going somewhere."

Kai denied. "I'm not done with you, yet"

Bonnie sneered. "Could care less how you feel, I'm finished with you, I'm getting the hell out of here."

Moving to block her path to the door Kai put in. "I don't think so."

"Get the hell out of my way, Kai and allow me to leave." Bonnie warned.

"No, I won't allow you to leave me." Kai didn't budge.

"Try to stop me from doing so." Bonnie challenged with deadiness.

Kai gave her a condescending expression.

"Move, you can't prevent me from leaving, I'm going to go and get Damon." Bonnie stated her irritation growing by the minute.

More bitterness filled Kai at the her bringing up Damon's name. "Him."

Bonnie emphasis. "Yes, Damon. I'm finding him, then he and I are going to leave this place together and never look back."

Kai mocked. "You sound so sure how Damon and you will leave together, like it's nothing."

She gave The Parker male before her a fierce glare. "Of course I'm sure he'll leave with me, especially after I tell him about your behavior towards me, which I know he isn't going to be happy about. So, I suggest you cut your losses, let me leave with Damon, before you get on his bad side like you're doing with me."

Kai's lips turned downward as he felt an irrational amount of hate towards Damon. "What makes you believe I worry about getting on his bad side."

"Giving you a heads up on proceeding with caution, it's best for you if we avoid more conflict in this situation, because whatever more conflict you cause with me and him, it won't end well for you. So, I strongly suggest that you let us get out of here, part our different directions, because Damon and me are a duo many along the way have regretted challenging." Bonnie commented in a matter of fact way.

"Of course, Damon, a man who you freely go along with." Kai felt great bitterness.

"I go along with him because I have known him for an extended period of time, which has enabled me to have a close bond with him. So, yeah I'm gladly going along with him." Bonnie mentioned.

"And you are willing to give him a chance to be close to you, but can't give me the same chance. Not playing fair." Kai accused.

"Because he earned his way into a relationship with me and is worthy of my time and attention, you aren't, it's the difference between you and him." Bonnie declared.

Kai boosted himself up. "If I were in the same position he were in as far as you were concerned, then you would know I am the better man over Damon and if you'd only had taken me up on my proposal, you would never go back to him again."

She snickered sarcastically. "You are very full of yourself, aren't you."

Kai pressed his lips together indignantly. "I am the better man over him."

A smirk in which Damon would be proud of crossed Bonnie's face. "You aren't even the same ballpark, hell even the same state as Damon is. He is a far superior person than you ever could imagine being. And he is ten times the man you wish to be. He is a gentlemen often and actually has the common courtesy and decency to respect my boundaries and backup with I tell him no, unlike you. You pale compared to the man he is." Bonnie conveyed with honesty.

"Not fair to me.," Kai responded like a spoiled child who wasn't getting his way.

"Get a hold of yourself, I'm beginning to be embarrassed for you." Bonnie shook her head.

"You speak so highly of him." Kai squinted.

This man before her was grating her last nerves, yet still she spoke her mind. "Every word I said about him is one hundred percent accurate and I say them because Damon means a lot to me and I care about him."

"Is that all, you're only speaking this way because you just care about him?" Kai questioned.

Bonnie confirmed. "Is is what I said isn't it."

Kai went on. "I doubt it's the only reason why you are standing up for Damon and claim to be so close to him."

Bonnie showed annoyance. "I claim what is the truth."

Kai spat out. "Why don't you just admit it, you two are fucking each other."

"What." Said Bonnie.

"No need to deny it, I've been watching the two of you and I can see with my eyes have you been fucking Damon." Kai throw at her with envy in his tone.

"You really have all of the nerve to make judgments on me and Damon when you know neither of us." Bonnie featured coolly.

"Is that a denial? I've seen the way you two look at each other and how you interact with him, if you aren't fucking him than you certainly want to." Kai accused.

She observed Kai and how he seemed to be obviously envy filled towards Damon and her relationship with Damon. Kai was able to see how something more was going on between her and Damon, and even though he was actually right, she was too pissed and irritated with Kai, to confess or admit his suspicions.

Bonnie scoffed. "Doesn't matter what you figured that you saw between Damon and me, it's none of your fucking business nor is it your concern."

Kai waved his hands wildly. "You deny and refuse me then you are willing to spread your legs for him, I shouldn't stand for this mistreatment towards me."

Bonnie snarled. "Had enough of you and your distasteful behavior, you have pressed me for long enough and no longer deserve my attention, now I'm going to find Damon and getting the fuck out of here with him."

"I told you, I'm not ready for you to leave yet." Kai stomped his foot petuntaley.

"I'm leaving with Damon whether you like it or not, you have already manage to piss me off, it's only a matter of time before Damon comes back with those supplies and sees that I'm missing. Then he'll come looking for me, you don't want him discovering you here with me, harassing me, because it wouldn't end well for you. It's in your best interest to let me alone." Bonnie threatened seriously.

"I'm not worried about Damon, he is busy at the moment and won't be seeing you anytime soon." Kai told her.

"He won't be so busy when he discovers what is really going on, he'll drop all to find me." Bonnie stated.

Kai stood near the door, where he hardly had moved since he entered into the room with her. "You have confidence he would care enough about you to find you."

Bonnie proclaimed with full faith. "Yeah, I do."

Kai snickered crudely. "Your confidence in him his misplaced. You'll be disappointed if you think he is coming for you. My brothers have him preoccupied at this very moment, if he tries something stupid then they will take care of him."

"And just explain how they will take care of him." Her jaw clenched.

"He's going to have a choice or whether or not he wants to leave you here, and travel by himself from now on." Kai told her.

"You're being absurd, Damon would never in a million years leave me behind, nor would I leave you behind. So, whatever startgery you have thought up to break apart him and I it will fail." She lifted up her chin.

Kai humped his shoulders upward in a shrug. "And I have already planned out a solution, just in case he is stubborn and rejects the offer I'm sure my brothers have made him by now, either way let's just say how my brothers and the rest of the Parker klan will guarantee you'll never see Damon again."

Irritation flashed into outrage, as Bonnie didn't like the vibe in which he had delivered those words about her best friend. "Look I have no idea about the shit you're attempting to pull here, but I do know that if you or your brothers hurt or harm Damon in any form, I'll make you pay and regret the day you ever saw my face."

Nearly amused by the outrage his threat towards Damon had caused out of her, Kai clapped his hands together and whistled. "Whoa, fascinating the passion you have when I said what I did about your boy toy."

Bonnie clenched her fists at her side. "I damn well mean it, harm a single hair on his head and I'll melt your face off of your skull."

"Not in the position to threaten me." Kai directed with a snap on his fingers.

"Not a threat, it's a promise, so I suggest you stop testing me." Bonnie was deadly sincere and not in the mood to play around.

"Doesn't matter, you're not in control, he's not in control, me and my family are the ones who are in control. And if either of you or him try anything, then you'll just have to learn the hard way of what the Parkers are capable of." Kai said to her, his grey bluish eyes turning wild.

"You're wrong he'll fight his way out if your brothers try to attack him, you aren't in as much control as you think you are." Bonnie responded furious.

Kai tsked. "I know I'm right, just as I know that Damon is most likely already dead at the hands of my brother."

Bonnie raised her voice. "No, he isn't, I would feel it inside if he was, but I'm so connected with him I know he is still alive."

Kai wiggled his fingers. "Well, if he isn't dead already, he soon we be. All because he may have refused to do what me and my family told him to do."

She shook her head frantically, she couldn't bare it if she had ever lost Damon, knew she would fall into a pit of panic and despair if she ever did. So she declined to believe what Kai wanted her to believe.

Seeing her reaction and how the thought of Damon being dead clearly bothered her, Kai enjoyed it. As it was sort of his payback to her for turning him down.

"Oh, Bonnie don't worry once Damon is dead, I'll be sure no part of him goes to waste." Kai showed his teeth cruelty.

"No part of him goes to waste." She repeated, how Kai had said those words didn't set well with her.

"We all will delightfully consume him just as we have done with other people." Kai cheerfully revealed.

Bonnie's vocalized with abruptness. "We, consume?"

Kai explained to her as something glinted in his eyes. "Duh, we as in my family and you know consume, like how people say they use every part of the pig or cow. It's the same with us, except for with people."

When Bonnie connected the dots, dread entered the pit of her stomach. "You…."

The Parker man eagerly cut her off. "I was going to try and ease you into this slowly, but I might as well confess this to you since you were going to learn eventually. We Parkers consume people."

"Cannibals, you and your entire family are cannibals. " Bonnie featured shock.

"You've just discovered the secret to how me and all of my family are so well feed." Kai boasted.

"Eating human beings is appalling, disgusting, and creepy." Bonnie voiced repulsed by the notion.

"When the world almost ended, all of the food sources were extremely diminished. All of us had to find a way to adjust to the how scarce food was. My family adjusted by eating people, not such a big deal." Kai dismissed nonchalantly.

She eyed him as if he was the grossest creature she had ever laid eyes on. "Every last one of you is sick for deciding to hunt down humans like they are animals, then eating them."

Kai expressed wickedly. "We all have to eat. We all have to do what we need to do in order to get food into our bellies."

Bonnie noted firmly. "I'd rather starve to death then to ever sink so low as to do something so unimaginable as eating people."

Kai sighed. "Right, you are one of those moral types who look down on cannibals. To us cannibals, however we see ourselves as the same as any other person who eats things like cows,pigs, chickens, whatever you name. Plus, my belly stays full in most meals, I prefer that to going hungry."

"There's nothing good about eating a person, there is no way you can try to make your family's diet practices okay. It's one of the most heinous actions people can commit on this planet and in the condition that this planet is in, it says a lot." Bonnie made a face.

"No shame in what I do or what I eat, I put myself living first, and if I have to eat human flesh to do so, then so be it." Kai shrugged off.

"Wait you're actually proud of how you choose to eat." Bonnie observed in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kai questioned.

Bonnie replied. "Perhaps because people with human dignity would at least be in conflict with themselves for making such a choice."

Kai retorted. "Conflict, conflict does me zero good. Should I be expected to feel bad, feel remorse for where my food source comes from, that does me no good either. When you consider how many thousands of people have died, lost their life because of lack of food. I do all I can to avoid their tragic fate. I eat to live, the Parkers discovered cannibalism years ago and we have since then mastered and became experts at it. I'm proud of that."

"Takes an awful person to be proud of such, a disgusting act." Bonnie put in flatly.

"You are very quick to pass judgment, are you telling me that you or Damon never killed another human being in your whole lives? Because I find it hard to believe how someone could get by in today's era and not manage to kill for survival." Kai inclined his head.

"There is no comparison between the two, I kill in self defense, only out of necessity, when I don't have a choice. You murdering people in cold blood and eating them is something else entirely, there are choices of other food sources and you choose to go with the cruelest one." Snapped Bonnie.

"Hmmm. I noticed you left out Damon there, does that mean he has killed some people when it wasn't in self defense or when he didn't have a choice." Kai caught on.

Defensiveness entered into Bonnie's voice. "Whatever Damon has done in his past, he never once murdered people for inhumane cannibalism, he took no thrill in killing and certainly wasn't proud of it."

Responding with cockiness Kai returned. "Hey, there is no point in life if I can't have the joy the life I live. Besides it's still about living and surviving through any means necessary, there isn't shame in that."

She eyed the atrocious man before her. "To think you tried to manipulate me into living here in this village for good with you, what in the world makes you believe I would be alright with your families diet practices? You're absolutely insane if you believe I would be okay with cannibalism."

"Well, I was hoping to ease you into it. I mean, it's sort of an acquired taste, then again once you get used to the human flesh, it's actually quite delicious." Kai gloated.

"Wait when you offered Damon and me food, you were actually offering us human meat." It suddenly dawned on Bonnie as she remembered the time Kai had offered them breakfast, but her and Damon had chosen to eat the deer meat they had instead.

"Indeed, I offered you both human meat without actually letting you know that you are going to eat that, I thought it would be amusing myself, to see you taste it without actually knowing what you were consuming. It would have been something else if either of you had turned out liking the taste. Was disappointed when you didn't." Kai frowned.

Bonnie's stomach churned sickly, as she thought of how her and Damon could have had eaten human without either of them knowing they had do so.

Kai teased once he saw her reaction. "You are bothered by what I just told you."

She sent him a steely glare. "Yeah, I'm offended as a normal person who be about being fed something so gross. The thought of eating another human being makes me want to throw up."

Said Kai devilishly. "Cannibalism isn't for all people, I get that. Still it's a eat or be eaten world though and I prefer to do the eating. At least when you and Damon turned down my offer for breakfast, it provided more for me just to eat. The woman I had was so tasty."

"The woman….." Bonnie paused as it came back to her. "...The lady who tried to kill Damon and I the other day, she is the one you are talking about."

"The lady was the one who I ate." Kai confirmed.

"You lied when you told Damon and I she was the bad guy, who attacked your village for no reason. You and your family weren't defending yourselves, you were chasing her and hunting her down to eventually have her for food." Bonnie realized.

"We were holding her prisoner to keep her alive and fresh, until we were ready to kill her for eating. Then she escaped and tried to get away from us. It was just a matter of timing when she ran into you and Damon. I did tell you the truth about how she got her fatal injuries from attempting to fight us back." Kai confessed.

It made sense to Bonnie now. "No wonder it looked like that lady had lost her mind, she knew what you and your family wanted to do. And therefore tried defending and escaping from this twisted place."

Kai tapped his chin in consideration. "We did keep her prisoner for days, I guess knowing she was going to die to feed me and my family made her go mad in the mind."

Bonnie pointed out. "She told Damon and I she was going to kill us, because she mistaken us a part of your family and thought me and him wanted to do her harm as well."

"A misunderstanding." Kai waved off.

"You committed reprehensible crimes against the poor lady." Bonnie added harshly.

"At least she got put to good use, rather than just rotting away buried in the ground, which by the way we never did. I just told the others to bury her body, as a cover while you and Damon were around, but once the body was out of sight of you, it got put to good use."

"As I said, having her for breakfast on the morning I offered you and Damon food, was delightful for me, there's something about eating human flesh when the body is just a couple of days old." Kai finished.

She wanted to hurl as he explained to her about his eating habits.

Kai reveled as he described further. "I like all parts of the human body and by no means am I a picky eater. But, you know my favorite part is the heart. There's just something so delicate about the heart, the texture of it as it goes into my mouth and down by throat."

Bonnie cringed. "You're a freak and an abomination."

Kai checked out his nails. "I would prefer being called a sociopath, feelings can be hard, but being a sociopath fits me so well."

Bonnie knew now more than ever how Kai wasn't going to ever be willing to let her go. And she also knew that his family intended to do great harm to Damon. She had no idea what predicament Damon was in at the moment, she just felt a strong urgency hitting her at once to get to him and to get the two of them out of there. Problem was that Kai was blocking her way.

So she looked at the door which Kai was standing in front of to try and get her brain to think of a plan on how to get herself out and to get to Damon.

"You wouldn't want to do that." Kai inched his way closer to her.

Her instinct told her this was a situation she and Damon would both have to fight their way out of and she was prepared to fight. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, as she gave Kai another icy stare.

"No need of you trying to escape, even if you somehow manage to make it past me then Ren is guarding the other side of the door, so you want make it far, I suggest you give up, because I always win." Kai stated.

"Never." Bonnie defied him, she wouldn't allow herself to be held a false prisoner inside of this room for any longer. She moved forward and attempted to shove herself past Kai to get to the door and get out.

"Where do you think you're going to." Kai grabbed roughly onto her arm to stop her.

"Get your damn hands off of me." Bonnie snatched her arm out on his grip.

Grabbing onto her arm again, Kai did it with more force to hold her into place. "If you think you're just going to him then you have another thing coming. I told you before, Damon isn't going to be living for much longer, if he isn't dead already."

Cursing herself for leaving her handguns back near her back pack, which was all the way across the village in the room she and Damon had slept in. "I swear, if you dare to hurt him, you'll be….."

Kai became unhinged. "I'll be what sorry? You have such deep feeling for him, you would threaten me at the thought of him being in danger. While you choose to leave with him over staying here with me. I won't take getting rejected for men like him. Women such as yourself will learn a lesson about dare rejecting me. You're the one who is going to be sorry."

As he dugged his fingers into her arm as hard as he could, Bonnie grimace in pain as she tried to wiggle her way free of him.

"And I'll teach Damon a lesson too, He's going to die and then I'm going to cut his heart out of his chest and watch the emotional agony come across your face as I consume it piece by piece." Kai ranted demently into her ear.

"No." Bonnie reared back on a yell, disturbed, triggered, anguished at the idea of such a terrible thing being done to Damon. Not a lot of things could get to her emotionally, yet the thought of Damon murdered, and become a victim of cannibalism caused her great heartache.

"Then I'm going to tie you down to a chair, cut Damon's corpse into tiny little pieces and force feed him to you, make you eat the man you're so bonded to." Kai screamed feeding off of her distress she was currently in.

It registered with her during this very moment, she was dealing with a man she had never dealt with before. Although she had ran into many bad people in her life time, there was something different about Kai than all of those other people. Kai Parker was truly a sick, horrid, twisted, depraved man. His demeanor now showed her a type of evil in which she had never seen before. He was the demonized version of a human being and most of all seemed to enjoy it. Just like he admitted to embrace being a sociopath.

The friendly, nice guy he had showed when he first met her and Damon was all just pretend. A front put on to lure them into a sense of comfort and trust around him. So, that he could con them into a trap to pull the very thing that he was pulling currently. And her and Damon had fallen for it. But, now seeing the real Kai Parker had Bonnie shaken to her very core.

"You are a fucking monster." Bonnie told her both in anger and horror at this last words.

"I'm a monster, If you see me as a monster than I'll show you what a monster is. I'll teach you a thing or two about a thing or two." Kai barked.

"Let go of me." Bonnie gritted her teeth.

This made Kai only tighten his already painful hold on her arm.

Bonnie yelp out in pain. "Quit, it you're hurting me."

Yanking her roughly by her arm, Kai's face contorted into a sinister, crazed way. "I'll do more than just hurt you. You're going to remain here with me for the rest of your life and there is nothing you can do about it. I always get what I want and what I want is you. You will be my mate, my one, and you'll be the mother to by seed. And I'm going to have my way with you one way or another."

Seeing the intention in those cold, evil grey bluish eyes filled her with terror, made her now afraid of having him force himself on her in an unwanted manner. "No, I said I don't want you."

His face in what some might consider attractive, twisted into a depraved glee. "If you won't give yourself up willing, then I'll have to take you by force then."

"No, Stop, I don't want this." She tried punching him hard in his chest to get him to let her go, but it did no good.

"Resisting, will only make this hurt more." Kai told her loudly.

He began by trying to kiss her on her lips, against her will. Disgusted and afraid, she held him at arms, length which prevented him from kissing her. Her holding him back from doing this made him try to force himself on her sexually more. Bonnie tried with all of her physical might to fight him off and resist him. To get out of the hold he had her in.

Kai pawed at her heavy jacket, which shielded her body. Trying to force it off of her with his free hand, while the other still had a bruisin grip on her arm. He kept trying to kiss her unwanted, press his body against hers, and getting the jacket off of her. Bonnie continued fighting him tooth and nail.

The more she fought him, the angerier that Kai got and the rougher with her he became. Bonnie screamed out with tears streaming down her face. Fear, rage, and the need to defend herself all consumed her at the same time. She had visions of rape on her mind and it was the last thing she wanted to happen to herself. She went into a fight or flight mood, her mind searching for how to get herself out of this situation.

That was when she remembered her knife strapped to her ankle. She didn't have her guns but she had her knife which was always strapped to her ankle.

Out of desperation she stuck her thumb in his left eye and dug in as hard as she could, making sure to use her finger nail as she did so. She dug it deep into his socket until she could feel her thumb hit his eyeball.

Immediately Kai released her from his grasp and his attack on her briefly came to a halt, as Kai stumbled back howling in pain.

While he was off his keyter she reached down, quickly grabbing the knife which was strapped to her leg.

"You cunt." Kai hollered as his left eye was shut, with juices from it running down his face as it was severely injured. "You're going to pay for hurting me."

With her heart pounding in her chest, she raised the knife by its handle and got into a defensive stance.

Kai then lunged at her, only being able to see out of his other eye now, inches away from presuming his assault on her.

Like an animal caged, trapped into a corner and legitimately afraid she was going to get raped or worse, she roared. "I said NO." Then proceeded to slash the blade of the knife across his jugular, which immediately stopped Kai in his tracks. Shock, then something like fear entered into his eyes as he realized he had just been injured in a severe way.

His throat was gashed open in a wide and deep cut from the blade of Bonnie's knife. Blood squirted out on the gash in his throat and onto Bonnie. He opened his mouth to say something, but only gurgling sounds came out. Kai stumbled back, grasping at his throat, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was of no use, as the blow was already fatal with how deep the cut was and the amount of blood he was losing.

Still lost in the emotions of all that had just went down, with all of the threats Kai had made, including to Damon's life, how he said he was going to eat Damon, then make her eat him. That combined with how Kai had just endangered her life, well being and had attempted to rape her, it was what caused Bonnie to do what she did next.

Staggering forward she let out another roar and stab him in the chest, with the blade of the knife penetrating deep into Kai's heart. Then she pulled the knife out which caused more of Kai's blood to spatter onto her hands and face.

The two knife wounds to his throat and chest was severe and too much for Kai's body to overcome, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, she he collapsed backwards onto the ground. Where he took a few for gasps of air, before he died.

Blood fastly drained from Kai's wounds and pooled beneath him on the floor. She stood there in frozen shock, breathing heavily, emerald green eyes wide. Her adrenaline pumping, the fear and rage of what had just happened coursing through her as she stared down at Kai's fresh dead body. The knife dripping with his blood in her hand.

However, before she could even recover from what had just gone down. The door to the room slammed open.

Ren who had stepped away for some time to go and take a smoke off of a cigarette outside of the town hall building. Had just come back inside, when he heard the commotion going down in the room. He then barged in to see what was causing it.

"Kai?" Ren called out in question. "Why…" He stopped when he saw his cousin on the floor, laying in his own pool of blood, dead. "Kai.." Ren called out again this time in grief.

Swallowing with the bloody knife still in her hand, Bonnie's wide green eyes shifted to Ren.

Followed by Ren turning his attention to her, he saw her holding the bloody knife in her hand, saw that her hands was covered with Kai's blood and that the saw was spattered in patterns across her face and connected she was the reason his cousin was now dead with stab wounds.

"What have you done." Ren yelled out in anger.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Footsteps where in pursuit of him, quickly approaching as Damon took cover behind a house. Hiding away his exact location from the group of Parker men and women who had two goals in mind. Intending to kill him and prevent him from getting to Bonnie and foiling the plans in which Kai had in mind for her.

Their voices could be heard communicating with each other about finding him and ending his life, as well as murmurs about Kai's schemes towards Bonnie. Then when they got closer still, they spoke out to him demanding that he surrender, that he was outnumbered and there was no use in fighting back. Repeating some of the same things Luke had told him, like they were a psycho pathetic family cult.

His mind swam with thoughts and feelings as the group was about to surround him. Then Damon thought about how little time he had to get to Bonnie before harm was done to her at the hands of Kai. When he pictured her well being and life being in danger. Along with her being physically harmed, hurt he became filled with rage. When it hit him how Kai would try to sexually abuse the woman he loved, he got filled with an anger in which he had never felt before. There was no way in hell he was going to let this happen to her if he had anything to do with it.

Fueled by the fury of Bonnie being severely harmed, Damon threw all caution to the wind and secured the assault rifle he had gotten from the man he had killed. Securing the assault rifle in both of his hands, Damon popped out from the cover he had been hiding behind. Saying with determination and grit. "Want a piece of me, here I am fuckers."

Then he automatically started to let out a spray of bullets among the group of Parker family members which were advancing on him. Instantly several of them went down as they were shot by him.

Those who were still standing, returned fire on Damon. Bullets whizzed by his head and body, barely missing him as he ducked behind cover again to avoid getting shot. Bullets ricocheted and bounced off of the house in which he was taking cover behind. Damon let out a stream of curses and thanked his lucky stars at the same time he had managed to avoid getting shot. They shot towards him for a full minute non stop.

When there was a pause in their gunfire, this was when Damon ducked out and began shooting at them again. Once more his bullets had hit its mark as even more of his enemies went down in a hail of his gun power. What he was doing might be considered insane by some. Taking on a bunch of people with guns aiming to try in kill him, when he was all on his own, the odds against him. Putting himself in grave danger of getting shot but he was willing to fight to the death if it meant that he could save Bonnie's life and her well being.

The armed members of those intending to kill him kept trying to advance on him, yet stay back behind their own cover at the same time since they knew he was armed with heavy firepower as well. They shouted at him repeating their threats of wishing to kill him over and over again, communicating with each other about how deadly Damon was since he had taken out a good number of them already and how they needed to take him out.

Instead of being intimidated by the bullets zooming past him, Damon become even more enraged and determined to fight his way out of this. Damon growled out loudly making sure all within listening distance could hear him.

"You all want to take her away from me, huh. I'll slaughter every single one of you and have all of your lives." To back up his words and show how serious he was, Damon again leap out from his cover and shot bullets off in the general direction of the group. Hundreds of rounds of ammo going off per minute. Even more of them went down from the bullets he had fired off at them.

Seeing so many on their side going down by Damon's bullets caused some of them to retreat and others to run away once they saw how skilled Damon was with a gun and how their side was losing despite having the numbers to their advantage.

Continuing to make his way across the village to where Bonnie was being held captive, Damon relentlessly and efficiently mowed down all of those who stood in his trying to shoot him. A bunch of them had decided to abandon the mission of stopping him. Yet there were some left who still tried to fight against him. Damon shot them, causing them to go down dead or severely wounded from the bullets he shot off. Making his way through exchanging gunfire with them, taking cover when he needed to.

When he got a couple of blocks away from the town hall building, he had ran out of bullets from the assault rifle, but the enemies against him had thinned considerably. Since he didn't have more powerful gunfire on him enough to take out multiple people at one time, he switched his tactics to going into stealth mode. Using the distraction of the gun fight, which had no doubt had whoever was left in the Parkers disoriented. He moved behind a thick row of bushes, as a group of unarmed Parkers ran passed him, not seeing him there as they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.

After a few seconds, he kept moving forward closer to where Bonnie was with Kai. Walking quietly as to not give away his exact location, yet keeping his pace urgent and quick. Using his stealth he got a few yards away from the back of the town hall building, and because of his stealth didn't meet up with any more resistance. He had to get himself and Bonnie out of his hell hole just in case the Parkers decided to gather themselves and come after him again.

Carefully, Damon made his way to down the side of the building, once he got near the front, he peeped around the corner and saw a man there lurking around the front door of the building. Obviously there to guard it and to keep him out of there or to keep Bonnie from trying to escape of she got free of Kai.

The man was facing in the other direction with his back facing towards Damon, looking out in the other way as if he had heard the gunfire, yet didn't want to leave the door unguarded. From the angle he was at, Damon could tell the man couldn't see him and wasn't aware he was so close and right there.

So Damon moved, silently taking slow steps as he sneaked up behind the man. Once he was directly behind the unknown Parker relative he wrapped his arms around the male's neck from behind. The male relative had no idea what had come up upon him, by the time he did it was too late for him.

With brutality Damon choked out the male relative, until he lost was knocked out cold, then let the male relative fall to the guard unconscious. With his path now clear, Damon opened the front door to the town hall building just in time to hear the threatening voice of a man. And that man sounded like Ren. He knew that the person who Ren was yelling at was Bonnie. Hearing the words 'What have you done'.

His eyes scanned the large room he was in until it landed on an open door which Ren's voice was coming from. Damon mouthed. "Bonnie."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

After Ren had yelled at her Bonnie took a few steps backward as her fight or flight mode had to go back up.

Ren moved his eyes from his bloody dead cousin to her. "You murdered Kai."

"I was not murder, I had to kill him in self defense." Bonnie said with a raised voice.

"Liar." Ren yelled again.

"He physically attacked me, tried force himself on me sexually. He left me no choice, I was defending myself." Bonnie returned angrily through clenched teeth.

"Kai only wanted you to be his mate, he was trying to be nice to you. Should have just given him what he wanted, for whatever reason you claimed he attacked you, I'm sure you made it do it." Ren accused her.

This reved her rage up again to the point where she had stopped crying temporarily to aim cold, icy daggers in Ren's direction. "I had every right to refuse him, he threatened me and provoked me. You and your whole family are insane cannibals."

Ren pointed at her. "It's your fault my cousin is now dead."

She told Ren not feeling an ounce of remorse or regret that she had killed Kai. "Your cousin had it coming to him and I'm glad that I killed him."

"You're going to be punished for doing this, me and the rest of my family will slowly make you suffer for murdering one of our most important members." Ren ranted like a lunatic.

"Keep away from me or I'll do the same to you what I just did to your cousin." Bonnie warned with a dangerous look appearing in her eyes.

"You think you will do the same to me, my weapon is bigger than yours." Ren boosted.

Bonnie held her knife in front of her, preparing herself for Ren to try and attack her.

To prove how he had a bigger weapon, Ren pulled out a machete, which had a huge handle and a very long and large blade. It dwarfed many knives including the one she had.

Seeing the machete caused her already pounding heart to pick up a couple of paces, the knife she had was smaller than his. Which made her afraid of how she was going to be able to out maneuver him, avoid getting slashed by the machete and managing to stab Ren at the same time to defend herself.

Believing he had the clear advantage over her, Ren wielded his machete through the air. "Let's see if you can kill me as easily as you killed my cousin."

"Bring it on." Her tone had a boldness to it despite the situation, she was willing to kill again if it meant saving her own life.

Just as Ren took a step towards her, there was a loud sound of footsteps rushing from the entrance of the room. Both Bonnie and Ren looked towards sound. There Damon was standing at the doorway ready to call out Bonnie's name.

She stood there eyeing Damon through wide green eyes which was filled with a mixture of the emotions she was feeling at the moment, relieved to see he was still alive and not dead my Kai's brothers, like Kai said he was going to be. Yet, was stunned in silence for a minute due to all which had played out with Kai and had almost played out with Ren.

Damon's eyes observed the sight, the scene before him. Bonnie was there with her hands coated in blood, with blood spattered on her face and smeared on her jacket. Emotionally she had anger, but even more than anger, fear, terror and horror on her face. A look of someone who was very distressed over their life ending.

Her appearance of the blood all over her, plus the look on her face, and seeing Ren about to go at her with the machete filled Damon with intense anger and fury. "You get the hell away from her."

"Try something against me and I'll slice the head from her neck in front of you." Ren directed at Damon when he saw how Damon didn't have a weapon at first.

"Fucking bastard." Damon retrieved the revolver out of his coat aiming it at Ren.

"Okay, man wait." Ren quickly changed his tune once he saw the gun Damon had.

"Drop your weapon now." Damon demanded.

Ren let the machete fall to the floor with a clatter, raising his hands up in the air because he knew he would get shot if he didn't do so. "I want no trouble from you."

With his face reddened from the anger he was feeling Damon redirected. "You just told me you were going to kill Bonnie, and you give me this sudden bull shit about not wanting trouble out of me."

Ren staggered. "It was a misunderstanding, a mistake. I changed my mind, I was just….."

A furious Damon had a murderous appearance on his face. "You are a dead man."

"I've gotten a change of heart. We can make a deal here and all three of us can walk out of here alive." Ren rambled.

"A deal." Damon's tone was menacing.

"Don't shoot me and I'll get the others to back off of you, then you and your girl over there can walk out of this village alive without any resistance. I promise my family will surrender and give up." Ren gulped. The murderous look in Damon's eyes and the menacing tone in his voice had Ren shitting a ton of bricks.

"Now you want to try and negotiated with me since the odds are turned against you, I just barged in on you threatening her life with your machete." Damon snapped out.

Ren keep his hands up in surrender, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "As I said I made a major mistake. If you promise not to shoot me, we can be even and you two can get out of here."

Edging closer to Ren, Damon kept his revolver pointed at him to make sure Ren didn't try to grab at the machete or attack Bonnie.

Bonnie still said nothing as she watched the scene play out before her.

"Alright, I promise not to shoot you." Damon stated.

"Good, we can have a ceasefire between our sides." Ren breathed out.

"Sure a ceasefire." Damon gave a humorless laugh which would chill any person opposing him to the bone.

Ren stood believing he had convinced his life to be spared. "Okay, everything is cool right?"

Keeping his revolver in one hand Damon bent down to retrieve the machete that Ren had dropped. "No, we're not cool."

Ren frowned. "But, you said you weren't going to shoot me."

"I'm not, I'm just going to end your life in another way." Damon flatly retorted.

Wasting no more time, Damon proceeded to take the machete and dug it's large blade square in the center of Ren's gut. Ren made the sounds of a dying animal as he realized that he was a dead man. Damon stuck the blade so deep in Ren's torso causing it to go all the way through his body and the tip of the blade to come out through his back. The blade sliced through the vital organs which were in the torso and also cut through the spine.

Ren was dead before he could even hit the ground, but it didn't stop Damon from leaning in and grumbling to Ren. "You all messed with the wrong woman." He then let a deceased Ren fall to the ground.

Still even as she saw Damon take on and kill Ren before her eyes Bonnie still was silent and frozen on the spot. As if she wasn't sure or afraid of what move to make next. Overwhelmed by the confrontations with the Parker males had left in in a deep state of emotional shock to the point where she had no words to speak.

Damon gave one last sneer to Ren who had his own machete stuck in his torso before he turned his full attention towards Bonnie. When he saw the physical state she was in, the rage and fury he had fight during his own confrontation with Luke, his gun fight with the others, and taking out Ren had faded away into something else.

He saw her coated in blood and was filled with dread and fright she had somehow gotten severely hurt to the point of bleeding. "Are you alright?" He asked her with deep concern for her well being.

She didn't answer him just stared out into a space of nothingness at first.

"Bonnie are you okay, were you physically hurt?" Damon questioned louder.

Bonnie's stare moved to the bloody knife she held in her hands, then she saw her hands coated with Kai's blood. Eyeing them with horror on her face, not because she regretted killing him. But, because the blood on her hands reminded her of the fresh memory of all Kai had said and done to her in this very room.

"Bonnie, can you hear me? Tell me you're not hurt." Damon stepped closer to her, bothered by how she was standing there in silence not answering him. Bothered more so by the expression on her face.

Her hands started to shake as she let out shivering vocal sound.

He placed his hands on her shoulders to try and bring her around. Desperation was in his voice. "Bonnie, please say something, you're scaring me."

Finally Bonnie flinched at of her frozen state and had to blink several times to snap out of it. "Damon, you're alive Thank God."

"Yeah, I am, I'm more worried about you though. Are you hurt physically?" Damon needed to know.

"No, I'm not at least not seriously." Bonnie looked down at her body.

"The blood all over you." Damon pointed out.

"None, of it's mine….it's his, Kai's I had to kill him." Bonnie explained shaken.

He had tunnel vision when he had entered into the room and had been laser focused on saving Bonnie from Ren that his mind was briefly taken away from how he rushed here with the mission of saving her from Kai.

Damon's eyes now looked over and saw Kai's laying in the far corner of the room, with a gash in his throat and a deep stab wound in his chest and a large pool of cooling blood beneath his body. Then he saw the bloody knife in her hands and the blood all over her connecting the events of what went down in his mind.

Bonnie addressed showing him haunted she felt. "He came after me and attacked me, he was terrible and acted like a monster. Wouldn't let me leave, he came after me and tried to rape me."

Hearing what Kai attempted to do to her fueled more of the rage in which Damon was feeling. He eyed Kai's body glad his life had been ended by Bonnie's hands, yet wishing that he himself could make Kai Parker suffer a slow torturous death. Damon would have one hundred percent for sure have killed Kai with his own bare hands if he had rushed in to see Kai attacking her and forcing himself on her.

"I know what you had to do," Damon assured her.

"He left me no choice, Damon. I had to do it, he tried to force himself on me and I let him know I didn't want him. H-He wanted to hurt me badly and I had to kill him to protect myself." Bonnie stated like she was about to crack from how rattled she was.

"Hey, Hey, You don't have to explain it to me. I know you had a right to kill him and you gave the pig what he deserved." Damon smoothed seeing how she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Nodding Bonnie said. "You're right, I was justified in ending his life."

He returned to her in a soft tone of voice. "One hundred percent correct."

She swallowed, her emerald green eyes welling up with tears.

Damon saw how distraught and devastated she was from the situation she had just gone through. And he was upset because of it and his heartache on her behalf. But, he told himself he had to remain strong and steady for her.

Her eyes slanted over to where Kai laid dead, as if she was in fear of him popping back up alive like she heard about what had happened in those scary movies.

"Don't look at him, look at me." Damon moved to block her view from Kai with his body.

Her eyes landed back on Damon. Holding that body knife tightly in her hand like she was afraid to let it go.

"Here, give me your knife." Damon requested kindly to her as a response to hold she was gripping it.

"Alright." Bonnie placed the knife in his outstretched hand after hesitating.

"There." Taking her knife he used his a rag to wipe the blood from it.

Standing there she watched as he cleaned the blade of her knife up, then he wrapped it in the rag and placed it in one of his coat pockets to keep for her,

He then proceeded to get out his handkerchief and gently wiped away Kai's blood from her face then her hands. "There you are."

Feeling overwhelmed, Bonnie hunched over forward like she was about to faint.

Wrapping his arms around her Damon secured her and prevented her from falling forward. "Easy, I've got you."

"What do we do now?" Bonnie questioned him at a lost.

"We have to get out of this place and leave this village behind, understand." Damon replied.

"Yes, Yes, I understand." Bonnie answered, closing her eyes for a short period of time to calm herself down as her heartbeat got back to it's normal pace.

"We will go and get retrieve our shit, then we will leave." Damon assured her. He put his arm around her waist just in case she still felt faint.

Bonnie leaned her weight against him for support and let him lead her out of the town hall building.

As fast as they could the two of them made their way across the village back to where they had been staying at. Once they reached it, they discovered all of their items, which included their bags, his hunting rifle and her handguns with the holsters were still there in the room untouched. Apparently for some reason the Parker's had never thought to go through their things or take away their guns among the plans. Something in which both of them were grateful for.

Bonnie removed her jacket temporarily to put her holster on, then she put her handguns in either side of her holsters, before putting her jacket back on. Then putting the her backpack on her back. Damon slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and secured his hunting rifle on him. Then they moved with urgency as they exited the small house.

Outside it had went from drizzling to a steady light rain. As the pair started to make their way out, most of the remaining Parkers who had to have been aware of what went down by now seemed to do all that they could to avoid the deadly, powerful duo. Ducking into their houses and shutting the door, as they didn't seem as eager to attempt fate in trying to take on the pair. What was left of them seemed to be just more of those who followed along and not the ones of the family who were armed or looked for a fight.

Less than a block away from the exit of the village, the two of them ran into Jo.

"Jo, you bitch." Bonnie called out feeling immediate anger when she spotted the brunette.

"I'm." Jo jumped out of her skin like she had seen a ghost.

"You set me up." Bonnie glared towards Jo.

"She did what?" Damon asked.

Bonnie kept her eyes on Jo as she described to Damon. "Jo lured me into a trap by lying about an emergency she was facing. She lured me into the building, knowing her brother had ill intentions for me."

Damon spoke darkly to Jo. "You set her up with Kai knowing the sick and twisted things he wished to do to her."

Jo denied. "I didn't wish for her to get hurt."

Bonnie lashed out, "Bullshit, you were in own your brother's plan all along."

"He just said that he wanted to talk to you, because he fancied you. He just wanted a chance to ask you out." Jo returned.

"More bullshit, you approve of his schemes to try and make me into his mate." Bonnie hissed.

"I wasn't completely on board with it, but I did it because it was the best for the future of the Parker family. I meant nothing personally against either of you about it." Said Jo nervously.

"I don't give a shit about you or your family. You're just as bad as the rest of them, forcing a woman to be with your psychopath brother against her will makes you equally as a disgusting person as he is." Damon spat at Jo.

When she saw the scary gaze he was giving her with his eyes, Jo cowered.

Bonnie added. "Kai assaulted me and tried to do me harm. It's for that exact reason why I killed him."

Jo was taken aback, as she hadn't seen Kai after luring Bonnie into that room with him. "You, you killed him."

Bonnie confirmed. "I did, slit his throat right open."

"No, No." Jo slapped her hand against her cheek.

"Not only is Kai dead, but so is your cousin Ren. And your siblings Luke,Liv,Jason and Morgan are decreased as well, I ended their lives." Damon coldly let Jo know.

"This can't be." Jo frowned.

"It is. And you'll also find many of the others corpses and bodies all over the village a ways back. All of them members of your family who I slaughtered in their gun fight against me." Damon ruthlessly stated.

Jo gaped as the reality of the situation hit her. "Why did you have to kill them?"

Bonnie gave her a cold glare. "Because he was defending himself against your repulsive family members, I'm sure of it."

Jo cried. "I never meant for this to happen this way, I swear."

Damon put in mercilessly. "All of your dead family members brought this on themselves. They threaten our lives and well being and rightfully died because of it. You know the saying about play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The Parkers certainly won their share of 'prizes' today."

"And you are just as guilty as they are, you could have tried to put a stop to it but didn't. I'm in the mood now where I ought to kill you and have you join your family in death." Bonnie vocalized harshly.

"Please, I don't want to die, I'm not a fighter." Jo fell to her knees in a begging manner.

"I didn't wish to be attacked and assault by your brother. Or be any part of his sick plans for me to be his one. Yet, you enabled him to do what he did to me." Bonnie tossed back.

"Which would give her a right to end your life as well." Damon joined in.

The stone cold demeanor of the pair of them, as well as the holes that the both of them were burning through them with their eyes, made Jo once again cower back as she was afraid of them both and what they would do to her.

Leaning down into Jo's face Bonnie said to her. "I should kill you but I won't."

Jo opened her mouth to say something.

Bonnie interrupted her by holding up a hand. "Don't take this as an act of mercy. I choose to allow you to live, because I believe punishment in living for you is worse than death. You have to live with the fact that your siblings and a bunch of your other family members are dead and mourn them and live with it for the remainder of your life that it's your fault and theirs that they are dead."

"You are fouranate, I might not have spared you and would have had your life if she wanted me to take it, however she has a point. Having so many Parkers now deceased after we killed them will provide a longer, more painful punishment for you than death can offer. This place is littered with their bodies, going to take you a while to bury them all." Damon directed at Jo.

Jo just shook her head as the grief hit her.

"Get me the hell out of here, get me out of this hellhole, Damon." Bonnie turned her attention to him, as she couldn't stand being so near this village for any longer.

"Okay, I'll get your out of this hellhole." Damon said to her once he saw the desperation in her eyes. He equally wanted to get away from this place.

Jo was on the ground sobbing now at the realization that most of her siblings and a ton of her family members were dead.

Damon was unsympathetic towards her. "Listen to me as I make myself very clear, if your remaining family members tries to come into pursuit of Bonnie and I, I'll come back her and finish the job and kill you myself."

Jo could see how he meant every last one of his words. "They, we won't come after you or try to pursue you, I promise you that we will have enough deaths."

And that promise had better be kept, he thought to himself. But, his instinct told him they had learned a harsh lesson when they decided to try and kill him and hurt Bonnie. And they wouldn't be coming after them.

"Come on, Bonnie. Let's blow this joint." Damon switched his attention fully to her.

Bonnie just gave Damon a nod in response.

Taking her by the hand, Damon started to run as they left a sobbing Jo behind. Together with their hands joined they fled the village.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

They walked and walked and kept walking. The pair of them walked for miles non-stop without resting or stopping. Bonnie had the intense need to get as much distance between her and the village as possible. Needing to get away as far as she could from where those terrible confrontations had gone down between her and Kai. Even with Kai dead she just had to get away from him as far as she could.

Damon could tell how emotionally and mentally devastated she was. So, he kept walking with her, understanding her enough to know how she needed to put as much distance between them and the village as possible. He could tell how emotionally damaged she was in the way she was acting. When he asked her how she was doing a couple of times, she was silent or gave non-verbal answers while not making eye contact with him. They had walked for a good while without her saying as much as a word to him.

It was only when the PTSD in which Bonnie was currently was going through did they stop for a brief period of time. And them stopping briefly was due to Bonnie getting physically ill as her brain remembered how Kai had tried to force a kiss on her.

The thought of him eating human flesh with his lips and mouth and him trying to kiss her on the lips was too much for Bonnie to handle. The vision of it and imagining how Kai had consumed humans and his lips touching her skin grossed her out and disgusted her. It did so, so severely she had to stop as she physically got very ill and vomited. She vomited for a couple of minutes in a row. Emptied out the contents of the last meal she had eaten.

Damon just held her hair as she bent over throw up. Feeling kind of helpless as he watched her get violently ill. By the time she was through with getting sick Bonnie felt a little weak in her knees, yet she kept pressing on still wanting to get as far away from the village as she could.

As the hours went by of them walking non-stop, the light rain had now turned into a heavy downpour, with the wind picking up some. After hours of walking, combined with the current emotional weight she was feeling, Bonnie became tired where she barely could walk much further without resting herself.

Once he made the connection of how tired she was, Damon lifted her into his arms to ease the physical burden in which walking for so long had caused her. He carried her bridal style through the rain. He carried her for about an hour longer but he was starting to feel tired himself. And he figured they had gotten far enough from the village, now they needed somewhere they could stop and rest for the remainder of the day. As Bonnie wasn't in any condition, mentally or emotionally for them to travel for much longer. She needed rest and so did he.

There was also the fact of it being so cold and chilly outside and how it was raining so hard. It was a cold, bone chilling rain and they were soaked because of it. He was becoming very cold and he knew she had to be as well. Decided what the both of them needed as some shelter from the cold and rain.

It was mid evening time when he had the shelter for them they needed. It was an abandoned two story house. He escorted her inside of the house and once inside he placed her on her feet.

"We'll stay here for the tonight and rest here." Damon told her.

She didn't speak just gave him a look of agreement.

He placed his duffle bag down and looked around the house. There were was a couch and a couple of chairs in what looked like to be the living room area. He also noticed a fireplace. Although they were now inside and sheltered away from the cold rain. It was still chilly in the house due to how cold the weather was.

Hoping to find a way to warm up the house, Damon jogged over to the fireplace and discovered the wood box was piled high with firewood. He lifted his eyes heavenward grateful for the discovery.

Not wasting any time he put some of the wood into the fireplace, along with some kindling and used a match to light a fire. Once he had the fire in the living room area lit, he searched through other area of the house. Found two more fireplaces, another one which was downstairs in a different room. And a large one upstairs where the master bedroom was. He transferred firewood to those fireplaces and lit them both.

Within thirty minutes of him lighting all three fireplaces, the whole house had heated up and warmed to a considerate amount. Enough where the chill and coldness had been taken off and it was now comfortable from the cold outside.

He approached Bonnie who hadn't moved or said much since they entered into the house. "I've get the fireplaces going."

She just looked down at the floor as if in a trance.

"Are you warm now?" Damon questioned.

Bonnie mumbled 'yes' under her breath while avoiding eye contact with him.

"Why don't you sit and rest for a while, we have been walking for a long time." Damon suggested to her.

Bonnie removed her jacket which was damp from the rain, took off her wool beanie and moved over to the couch.

Observing her demeanor Damon noticed how she was obviously going through the affects of PTSD. She was being uncharistically silent and still hadn't said much to him since they had escaped from the village. She wasn't her usual high spirited self. What Kai and the Parkers put her through had no doubt overwhelmingly traumatized her. And she was struggling through trying to progress through it. He wanted just to reach out to her and comfort her.

A few moments later, Damon recognized how it was getting later in the evening and how she hadn't eaten since that morning which was hours ago. He wondered if she was hungry, he put his hands in the pockets of his coat and soon found out that he had lost the bag of their deer meat sometime during the battle back at the village.

Because they didn't have any other food on them, he went into the kitchen area in hopes to find some. He food a few pots and pans. Rifled explored the cabinets and with luck found some food. It wasn't a ton of food. But, enough to feed him and Bonnie for a hand full of days. He made eight packs of ramen noodles and a box of chicken broth,along with a small bag of rice.

He approached her. "Are you hungry? I found some food in the kitchen I could fix up."

"No, I don't have much of an appetite to eat anything right now." Bonnie muttered. Her stomach still churned from her getting sick earlier. And she was still too emotionally distraught to be in the mode to eat. She wasn't hungry at all and didn't think she would be able to keep food down without picturing Kai eating human flesh and trying to force a kiss on her.

"Alright, well once you get hungry I'll fix something for you." Damon told her. And since she wasn't going to eat he wouldn't either, he would wait until she was ready to do so, in order to share the food with her.

"Okay." Bonnie responded somewhat distantly.

"If you need something just let me know." Damon offered.

She mumbled something to herself under her breath as she rubbed at her arms.

Damon took note of how she was acting distant and closed off. But, didn't take it personally. Told himself that it was just her way of coping. As everyone had different reactions to dealing with going through tragic events. He just had to do everything to let her know he was there to help her.

He was about to turn and walk away to check on other parts of the house, to see if there was anything else of use with could assist them. And also to make sure that the house was secured and locked down.

He knew they were safe from the Parker Klan now. However, it such a world one had to always be on their guard, as he had constantly learned. Never knew when there was a person with ill intent seeking around somewhere near.

"I….I need to get clean." Bonnie blurted out.

"You need to get clean?" Damon came back to her.

"He put his hands on me, his disgusting, dirty hands. It makes me feel filthy and I can't stand it. I have to wash that feeling away." Bonnie rushed out the words.

She was feeling the mental and emotional aftershocks of what many sexual assault victims felt, Damon knew this, He wished to tell her how she shouldn't have felt filthy because it wasn't her fault.

It made him angry towards Kai and feel pity for her. But, he would do whatever he could to help her, because again she seemed like she could be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"I'll see what I can do." Damon said instead.

After going through his mind to find a solution for the problem. He thought of a way to solve it. It was still raining heavily outside. So he got a couple of large, deep pots from the kitchen and found a bucket. With his coat still on he took them outside and placed them down. And waited for the bucket and the pots to be filled up. Which thankfully didn't take very long due to how it was raining cats and dogs out.

Then he carried the pots and bucket filled with rainwater back inside. There wasn't running water in the house of course, but it didn't mean that a bath couldn't have been taken here. After shutting the door behind him and making sure that it was secure, he hefted the pots and bucket one by one, carrying each of them up the stairs.

From where she sat on the couch Bonnie watched him as she wondered what he was doing.

When he was upstairs with, he carried the pots over to the fireplace which was lit in the master room. And used a metal rack he found to place over the flames of the fireplace. He then placed the pots on the metal rack, they barely fit, but did so enough to where his solution was working out. And his solution was to heat some water so that Bonnie would be able to have her request of wanting to get clean.

He timed his watch for fifthteen minutes and after fifthteen minutes checked the water in the pots. Both of them were heated to a hot temperature. He then carefully carried the pots of hot water over to the upstairs bathroom and emptied both pots of nearly boiling hot water into the bathtub, where both pots combined to fill up the tub almost halfway.

Since the water was too hot for a person to get into, he used the cold rain water from the bucket and mixed it in with the water he had in the tub to slightly cool it down and to even out the temperature.

Downstairs, Bonnie sat on the couch not having moved an inch since she had sat down. With her mind a jumble of chaotic and depressing thoughts. She turned when she heard the footsteps of Damon coming back down the stairs.

"You can head upstairs." Damon let her know.

"Upstairs?" Her mind was in a fuzz.

"I, um. You said you needed to get clean, so I made a bath for you." Damon gestured.

"Oh." Bonnie returned.

Damon added. "Made the water as comfortable that I could for you."

She was holding in her emotions, like she looked like she might explode if they all came out at once. She wasn't saying much to him, he wanted her to let it out and tell him how she was feeling, because her holding those types of feeling inside of her wasn't healthy for her mental well being.

But, he also didn't want to push her before she was ready to let those emotions out and gave her the time to let them out when and where she was ready to do so.

Bonnie said to him. "Yeah, Thanks."

Damon put in. "There's a master bedroom up there with a fireplace, you can use it if you need to."

She then got up from the couch, taking her backpack with her and went up the stairs. She found the bathroom. Which had no windows, but Damon had lit a large candle in it for her to be able to see. Shutting the bathroom door, she laid down her back pack on the floor, took off her shoes and socks. Removed her pants, and underwear, followed by her sweatshirt. When she had to lift her arms to take it off, she winced out as her arm flared up in pain.

It was the arm in which Kai had grabbed onto violently. She looked at the arm and saw in the dim candlelight how as large bruise had formed on it. Which was a sign of how roughly Kai had squeezed her arm, since she was wearing a jacket and the long sleeved shirt. Yet her arm still got bruised through the layers of her outerwear. Letting out a shaky breath, she touched a finger to the sore bruised spot on her arm. Had a vivid flashback to her encounter with Kai.

She forced those images from her mind, not wanting to remember it or live through it again. Naked she went over to the tub, tested it with her toes and established how it was safe, not to hot. She stepped into the tub, sitting down in it and the water came up to her chest area. Instantly she took notice of how warm, smoothing and relaxing the water felt. It wasn't often she was able to take truly hot baths or washes up. When she bathed she just made due with whatever water source her and Damon had came across which allowed her to do so. Which often wasn't even warm or sometimes even cold.

But, she did used the sources to bathe herself without complaints, because keeping her hygiene maintained was what was important. Especially when they would go days between bathing on their traveling. Nonetheless it had been awhile since she had a bath this warm. And she was grateful to Damon for coming up with this idea for a bath and how quickly he had put it together after she told him she had to get clean. Gave him credit for being creative.

In the bathroom alone, she used soap and scrubbed all over her body, with the strong urge to get rid of the filthy feeling she had gotten from the thought of Kai's hands on her. She kept scrubbing and wiping until the urge lessened and she didn't feel as filthy. Then she just sat in the warm water, staring out at the candle which was lit on the sink.

She wasn't sure how much time passed by, but when the water started to cool she stepped out of the tub. Grabbed a towel and dried herself. And wrapped the towel around her. She picked up her clothes and her backpack and headed for the master bedroom.

There she saw the large fireplace lit just as Damon has said it would be. And there was a big king sized bed, with a dresser. It was obvious the owners of this house had left it a long time ago, perhaps in a rush to evacuate or to go somewhere else. In their rush they had left some things behind which was why Damon had found the food. Bonnie wondered if there was some clothes also left behind. The ones she had on were dirty from wearing them for weeks in a row.

She scoured through the dressers drawers and found a red sweater and black drawstring cotton pants that was her size. And an unopened pack of underwear. She sighed, grateful for the new clothes and dropped her towel to put them on.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

While she was upstairs taking her bath, Damon had taken off his coat and hung it up to dry. He taken off his boots. And went around the house to make sure everything was secure. As the hours passed into the night he added wood to the fireplaces downstairs to keep them going. As it was very warm and toasty inside of the house by now, He wanted to keep it up since night time only meant the temperatures were dropping outside.

It was the time of night where he and Bonnie usually went to sleep. Which was around mid night, it had been a long terrible day and he was tired. But, he wanted to needed to tend to the fire upstairs first, as well as Bonnie before he went to sleep.

He carried some of the firewood up the stairs and into the master bedroom. He spotted Bonnie in the bed, she wasn't sleep but was sitting up in the bed wide awake, with her back pressed against the headboard. She had changed her clothes from what he could tell.

Damon added more of the firewood to the fireplace.

From where she sat up in the bed she watched as he moved the wood around with the fireplace poker until the wood caught ablaze.

Once he was finished doing that he swiveled to face her. "How was your bath?"

"It helped, I feel cleaner." Bonnie let him know.

"Glad to hear it." Damon mumbled.

"I have to give you credit, I wouldn't have thought about heating up the rainwater and using it to bath. Very innovative of you especially to come up with it on the spot once I told you what I needed." Bonnie voiced.

"We have to improvise as lot don't we. I'm just glad it helped you. And may use the same method to bathe myself later on." Damon communicated.

There was a pause in their conversation.

"You could have this room for sleeping in, since it was the bed and the only upstairs fireplace. I'll be in the room adjacent from this one, across the corridor It has a mattress in it I can sleep on." Damon jerked his thumb.

"Generous of you even though I don't think I can fall to sleep tonight." Bonnie shook her head.

He studied her from where he stood. "Why not, you aren't tired."

She sighed deeply. "Actually I'm exhausted, I just don't think I can feel asleep, don't know if I really want to."

He immediately comprehended why she was saying this. "Because of what happened earlier…...back at the village."

Bonnie admitted. "I'm afraid of falling asleep, I'm afraid if I do that I'll have nightmares of him attacking me and trying to force himself on me sexually."

Damon resonated with her. "Nightmares are difficult, nasty creatures when you have the memories of going through something horrible which happened to you in your mind."

"They are." Bonnie agreed.

"If you don't think you can sleep, I can in here and stay up with you." Damon suggested.

"You really would?" Bonnie questioned.

"If you believe my company here would help you then I would." Damon confirmed.

"Your company would help." Said Bonnie.

"Then I'll stay up the entire night with you if I have too." Damon stated.

Bonnie muttered. "Gratitude."

Damon walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it on the same side where she sat.

Bonnie eyed him. "I've been silent and distant with you for much of the day, since we have left the village. It was nothing against you."

He looked towards her. "No need for you to explain, Bonnie I never took how you reacted personally."

She fidgeted with her fingers. "I've been suppressing the emotions that I'm feeling inside of myself for the last hours. Because I found it hard to bring it up and didn't wish to talk about it right afterwards."

"Hey, I understand you completely. What you dealt with today is a very sensitive and difficult subject matter for anyone to handle. Lots of people put in your situation have trouble discussing what they went through. Suppressing memories of being abused, physically, sexually is often the brain's way of protecting that person from the trauma which has happened to them. I know your brain was doing the same to you." Damon's mood was very serious.

"Yeah, I guess it was what my brain was trying to do hold it all inside as a way to self protect me. To tell you the truth, I was on the verge of a panic attack several times today. But, I don't want to hold what was done against me inside for a prolonged time." Bonnie commented.

"Whenever you are ready to discuss the terrible events of today and how it impacted you, I'm here to support you in all ways possible. You just talk about it when you're comfortable with it." Damon said to her.

"After processing through it for hours, I feel like I'm ready to open up to you about it." Bonnie mentioned.

"Are you positive about that?" Damon asked to make sure.

"Yes, I want to get it off of my chest, if I hold it in then I think I will explode." Bonnie returned.

Damon directed. "Let out as much as you need to."

Bonnie released a extended breath and swallowed.

Damon added in a soft tone. "Tell me feelings you felt."

Bonnie detailed. "Irritated, enraged, angry, pissed off, I felt all of these during my confrontation with Kai. The more and more he talked the angrier I became."

Damon nodded for her to go on.

"I also felt terror and an incredible amount of fear once I saw what he was capable of and what his intentions were for me. I still feel all of those things when I think about what happened in the Town Hall building with Kai earlier today. I feel enraged, but more so I especially feel the fear and terror, the after affects of it from his physically attacking me." Bonnie confessed.

Reaching over, he laid a supportive hand on her.

"He figured that he could just talk his way into my good graces at first. He tried to go with the 'I'm just a lonely man looking for love' routine to get me to connect to him. Tried going with the appealing, charming, nice guy approach. And used this to try and sweet talk me into going out with him." Bonnie began.

"But, you weren't feeling it." Damon knew her well enough to know how she would react to a man like Kai.

"Not at all, I guess he was a man who some women might have found attractive, perhaps it's why he assumed that I would be if he could just sweet talk me. But, I told him I wasn't interested in him. He wouldn't listen to me or accept no for an answer. He kept trying to convince me to be in a romantic relationship with me." Bonnie described.

'Entitled bastard.' Damon thought to himself.

"After multiple times and hints of me letting him know I wasn't isn't in him, and me having to turn him down, reject him over and over again. I became very irritated and annoyed. Place my foot down and told him to back off, that I didn't want him and wasn't ever going to no matter how he spun his words or no matter how many times he asked me to." Bonnie mentioned.

Damon grumbled. "As is your right to choose whether or not you want to be with a man. Any man worth his weight would respect a woman's choice and leave her alone if she told him she wasn't interested."

Bonnie continued. "Well, Kai certainly wasn't that type of man. He was the type of believes he is entitled to having a woman, if he wants a woman. And reacts in an aggressive, angry manner if a woman doesn't give him what he demands. And he didn't leave me alone. After I made it clear once and for all how I wasn't going to be with him, things turned for the worse."

Listening he allowed her to take her time tell him what she needed to as she opened up and got it all off of her chest.

Her forehead creases in distress. "Once he got the hint that I wouldn't voluntarily be with him of my own free will, he completely turned against me and showed me his true colors. Blamed me and told me it was my fault because I lead him on."

He scowled. "Bullshit, you did no such thing. And no matter what asshole Kai told you, it isn't your fault for him physically attacking you or trying to force himself on you."

"I know it isn't my fault, still he made it up in his mind that it was and used it to justify his aggressive words directed at me and the violence which would attack me with later on. The look in his eyes, it was like seeing into the eyes of the devil himself." Bonnie glowered.

Damon shifted slightly closer to her as she continued.

"Kai Parker was the devil, I've seen my fair share of bad, cruel people in my lifetime. You know Alaric,Greg and while they caused great pain to me in my life, there was something different about Kai. Something about him which made him worse than the people I went up against and faced before. He was the worst person which I ever had seen. The way he carried himself, like a demon out of hell and the aura about him. Today I looked in the face of evil and the was Kai." A shiver went down her spine as she finished.

"Of course Kai is evil, he's depraved. And so is the rest of the Parker family. They would have to be in order to be cannibals and to do a thing so immoral as eating human meat. What they do there is no excuse for it. It makes them all reprehensible psychopaths, especially him." Damon ahorrence aimed at the Parkers and mostly Kai.

"Them being all cannibals is revolting, repulsive and stomach churning, I won't rather starve than to resort to what The Parkers do." Bonnie proclaimed.

"I'm with you completely on that." Damon agreed with her.

Bonnie enunciated. "Kai being a cannibal just acts to the demon like person that he is, was. He wasn't just a psychopath, he was a sociopath and embraced being one and let me know it. Like he was proud of what he was and was going to make me join him whatever I liked it or not. Once he made his intentions clear against me he came after me."

Witnessing the pain he heard in her voice and the terror, fear he saw in her eyes darkened Damon's mood and made him feel pity towards her.

"He wouldn't let me go, he tried to keep me trapped there in the room with him and what he did next forced my hand." Bonnie pressed on.

"When you defended yourself." Damon muttered.

"He came after me like a demented demon. Trying to relentlessly tear my jacket, clothes away from my body. It was like having a nightmare, expect for knowing that the nightmare was real and I couldn't wake up from it. He was a total psychopath and he was going to force himself on me without my consent. I screamed,cried and told him no and I didn't want him. But, he didn't care. He wanted to rape me and almost did." Bonnie's bottom lip trembled.

"I'm so sorry, Bonnie. I hate you had to suffer through such a horrible experience. And I wish I had the power to prevent you going through it." Damon expressed somberly.

Bonnie nearly shook as she detailed what happened next. "I don't think I've ever felt fear or terror as much as I did in the instant in that room, where he was putting his hands on me and trying to kiss me. Perhaps because being raped is one of my biggest fears. But, in that time it was the most panicked and in fear I have ever been. The more I fought him, the angerier and more violent he became with me."

Damon clinched a hand in anger.

Bonnie opened up to him more. "He just wouldn't stop, wasn't going to until he succeeded in raping me. He provoked me and gave me no choice. So, I did what I had to do in order to protect myself from unwanted sex. I got my knife and slashed it across his fucking throat. That was what finally got him to stop. Even when I knew that the gash to his throat was already going to be fatal for him. I stabbed him in the chest as deep as I could for good measure. Because I just wanted him dead."

Damon returned to her. "Hearing the heinous acts that Kai did, tried to do to you makes be loathe that lunatic, it makes be wish that I could make him suffer a slow, ruthless death at my hands. But, you know what."

"What, Damon?" She questioned eying him.

"You saved yourself." Damon stated,

"I did what I had to do." Bonnie looked down at her hands.

Damon repeated. "You saved yourself and stood up in the face of evil at the moment of one of your worst fears almost happening to you. You found a way to fight back against someone who had pushed you over the edge and had threatened you with great bodily harm. You fought back just like the fighter person you are and it's what makes you the bravest person I have ever known."

Bonnie breathed out. "I was so afraid in that moment."

He emphasised. "I can only imagine how afraid you must have been, but it takes true courage for you to stand up for yourself when you were most afraid."

Bonnie rubbed at her forehead with anxiety. "I just can't wrap my head around it. We were only around Kai for a few days, yet he just developed this sudden obsession with me out of nowhere. And became creepily possessive of me. He just became consumed with having me at all cost. I cannot comprehend nothing if what I did or how I behave around him which would give him the idea that I was interested in him. And why he would be so hellbent on raping me."

"The reason why you can't understand it is because you are actually a human being with a good heart. You are kind, good willed, and have empathy for others. You have it all on the inside that makes a person a true quality human being." Damon announced with compassion.

"And Kai Parker is a sick man. Not the mentally ill type of sick when a person can't control the way that their brain works and therefore can't control their actions. But, he is a lunatic and sick in the head in the since that he knows right from wrong and chooses to embrace being a person who is repulsive and evil enough to hunt people for food. And shows no remorse for killing. So, him being capable of being a rapist fits right along with his immoral, twisted compassed." Damon added.

"I'm glad he is dead, I'm glad I was the one to take his life." Bonnie spat spitefully.

"I'm glad Kai is dead too, no doubt he is burning in hell." Damon sneered.

A troubled Bonnie continued. "I've faced countless people who have tried to kill me or harm my well being. Most of the time after I take care of them, I'm able to brush it off and move on to the next thing quickly. What happened to be today is so traumatizing, burdening, and disturbing I just can't shake it. So, distressing where I can't get passed it. Now I'm worried about if I'll always have flashbacks of the attacks on me today."

Damon explained to her gently. "You suffered a cruel assault at the hands of a vile, psycho path. Went through a extremely violent and terrifying situation. The sort of situation which can stay with a person for a while. You're feeling the after effects of PTSD, and you won't get over it or night or even a few days. You'll have to give yourself some time to recover from it."

Bonnie moved her head up and down. "I figured I was going through ptsd and you telling this to me let's be know just how correct you were. And how hard it maybe for me to recover from the events of the day."

Said Damon. "No matter how long your recovery takes, I'll be by your side every step of the way, assisting you in your recovery the best way I know how."

"I have full faith you will be there, Damon." Bonnie returned.

He gave her a half smile of acknowledgment.

"There wasn't just the deeds he did against me, but it was also you and what he said about you to get to me. A part of his scheme was also to separate the two of us." Bonnie confessed.

"Yeah, I know. Luke told me all about it and gave me an ultimatum." Damon grumbled.

"And it was exactly….." Bonnie paused in question.

""Luke let me in on his brother's demented plans relating to you and they wanted be out of the way for those plans to succeed. Gave me the option of either leaving their village by myself and leave you behind with Kai. Or if I refused to leave without you, then they would proceed to kill me." Damon remembered.

"But, you wouldn't give them the ultimatum they demanded from you." Bonnie guessed.

Damon signaled through a gesture. "Hell no, of course I wouldn't give those freaks what they demanded. I would never, ever leave you."

Bonnie pointed out. "Not even when they threatened your life in exchange for me."

Damon stated with firm meaning. "I couldn't go on without having you in my life, Bonnie. Plus, hey traveling on and sustaining this journey without you would be empty for me. Getting to the settlement in Virginia would feel hollow and purposeless if you weren't there with me every step of the way."

Reaching over she laid her hand on his supportive one, that was still rested on her. "I have one hundred percent trust and faith in you, Damon. I know you would never voluntarily leave me behind. Neither of us would voluntarily leave the other."

"Our motto, or one of our many motto is where you go I go." Damon quietly asserted.

Despite how currently she was feeling due to the horrors of this day, those words for him made her smile a little, even if it was for a very short period of time. "Or I'll go wherever you will go."

"Yep, those are some of our mottos." Damon confirmed.

"Once Kai learned and figured out you wouldn't leave me behind and how connected I was with you, he used you against me as I said. He was so jealous and envious of you, then wanted you out of the picture because of it." Bonnie mentioned.

"They made a threat to my life and attempted to keep us apart, both the biggest mistakes of their lives." Damon commented.

"Knowing you, I'm sure you made them regret ever crossing us." Bonnie prompted.

Damon thought to how he fought back. "Perhaps they did regret it, I hope it was their last dying thoughts. I'm sure Liv regretted it before I put a bullet into her skull."

Bonnie wondered. "So, you really did kill most if the Parker siblings. It wasn't just something you said to mess with Jo's head."

Damon responded. "Killed them all. And I'm positive Jo has discovered all of their corpses by now. Like you said having to live the rest of her life with them being dead is a punishment worse than death."

Bonnie reacted bitterly. "Then they're all burning in hell right along with Kai."

"When Luke detailed Kai's scheme was towards you, I became enraged, furious and was filled with a fury beyond measure. No one hurts you and gets to live to see the next day. I would split the earth in half just to keep you safe. And would slaughter, maim, destroy a person who is foolish enough to try and come between us. Or dare to keep you from my side. And that's exactly what I did when I killed countless Parker's today." Damon meant every last word of it.

She felt the same, she too would execute any person who dared to come between them or endanger his life. "Somehow, I had faith you would come and save me."

"You saved yourself, when you slit that rats throat and ended his life." Damon told her.

"True, however you did rescue me from Ren, not quite sure I would have been able to take him out with my knife, considering the massive machete he had." Bonnie added.

"Speaking of regret, I'm sure that Ren did as he tried to talk his way out of the situation once he saw the odds were turned against him. Too late for him to beg for his life though." Damon gave a cold smirk.

"It's just that…." Bonnie had to take a pause to gather herself.

"Just that." Damon repeated.

She was deeply troubled once more. "It wasn't just that Kai terrorized about taking your life. He gleefully gloated to me about how he would eat your dead body in front of me and how he would force me to eat your dead body. Seeing it in my head was beyond triggering, it bothered be so much."

He uttered. "Such a sadistic freak to gloat about something so gruesome to your face. But, as sadistic as his words were, they didn't come true. I'm still here alive and kicking. Kai lost in the end and here I still am breathing."

Bonnie looked him over. "Well, Thank goodness for that, I was so grateful, relieved when you came rushing through the door."

"Hey, I'm Damon Salvatore. I ain't going away, I won't be defeated, I won't lose out to any of our enemies, I ain't dying, and especially I ain't leaving you." Damon persisted.

"You swear." Bonnie choked out.

"I swear, Bonnie Bennett. I won't ever leave you in a million years." Damon insisted.

"Good, because I couldn't bare to handle you getting dead because of a certain sociopath wanting his way with me." Her voice cracked.

Damon smoothed. "I made it out today alive and that is what is most important. I appreciate you being so worried about my well being, I'm sorry that Kai used me to get to you. But, I don't want you focusing on what happened to me today. You been through enough trauma, and are dealing with what you;ve been put through,"

"I don't want to add to your stress by worrying yourself to death about what could have happened to me. I prefer you put alright of your focus on yourself and recovering, alright."

She pressed her lips together. "Alright, Damon alright."

Damon went on. "You are strong, you're a survivor. Just as you survived through all of the tragedies which happened in your life before, you'll outlast this."

"I feel a little better since I have opened up to you about today…...yet I still won't be able to sleep tonight without having nightmares about him." Bonnie swallowed.

"My offer remains the same about staying up with you all night if I have to." Damon put in.

"Yeah?" Bonnie muttered.

"Yeah." Said Damon.

Her green eyes welled up with tears. "You're such a great man, Salvatore."

He declared. "A great man who has an ever greater woman by his side."

Finally, after holding in her emotions for most of the day, the ones she had been trying to keep under tap since they had left the village, she couldn't hold them in for any longer. All of the weight of it came crashing down on her, the fear, terror, anger, rage she had felt. The the major stress on her that had been on her since then, and how it all heavily had her distraught.

Bonnie let it all out, broke down and began crying loudly.

Instantly Damon took action, reaching out as he empathized with her. He took her into his arms, cradled her into his lap. Giving her his solace and sympathy.

She cling to him as if her life depended on it and heavily wept.

"Shush, you're going to be alright, you'll make it through this. I'm with you, I'll always be with you, I'm here, I'll always be here, and I won't ever in a million years depart from or abandon your side." Damon comforted.

All she could do was cling to him, lay her head against his chest and cry some more. As the tears streamed down her face in streams.

Hearing her heartbreaking weeping got him choked up, he found his own eyes welling up with tears. He stroked her hair to comfort them both.

Neither of them got an ounce of sleep during this night, they stayed up as he had her all night long.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

When daylight broke the next day, it was when Bonnie had progressed enough to the point where she had finished her bouts of crying and where she didn't need him to constantly stay in the master bedroom with her or hold her. He made sure of it before he left her in the master bedroom with herself to recover from the emotional night she had.

All they could do now was get this day started as best as they could. While she moved to brush her teeth and worked on settling down herself. He went around the house, once again checking on everything to make sure it all was secured. He replaced the firewood in all three fireplaces, to keep those fires roaring and the house toasty and warm.

Continuous steady, heavy rain still fell outside. And it seemed like one of those rain storms which came into an area and could last for several days before stopping. The heavy rain still going and the cold outside quashed their potential to leave for travel on this day. As they would remain inside for shelter for it all.

He was able to take advantage of the constant rain by gathering more rain water in a similar way that he did the day before. He heated it up as he had done before. Filled the tub with it and used it to take his own bath and wash up before he got dressed again.

Now as early afternoon had came, he sat in front of the fireplace, on the couch in the living room. Staring into it, feeling melancholy about all of the events about the day before. And how bad it was and how tragic if could have become. More so in relation to Bonnie than what had happened with himself. He could get passed having the Parker's make threats to his life, because he came out of it alive and had killed most of those who tried to end him.

However, Bonnie she was another story. It had been brutal on her mentally and emotionally. For the many months he had spent with her, he always seen her coolly take out all those who endangered her well being and go on about her day as if nothing happened. But, what she had went through at Kai's hands, he had never seen her so shaken and shattered before. And it really had affected him, because he hated seeing her go through so much hurt.

He was so lost in his thoughts as he stared into the fire, he barely noticed Bonnie entering into the living room.

"Hi." Bonnie neared him holding two mugs. One in each hand.

"Hi." Damon turned his eyes from the fire to greet her.

"I made this for us and was wondering if you'd like some." Bonnie spoke.

"What is it?" His eyes scanned over the mugs she held.

Bonnie answered. "Tea, I found a few tea bags back in the kitchen, they looked good enough to still used. So, I heated up some off our bottled water over in a pot, over the fireplace in the other room. And I made us both some."

Damon mumbled. "Oh."

Bonnie additionized. "There isn't sugar to put in it, but it's warm and I figured it would help us both out since we didn't get sleep last night. Something to ease the nerves and to keep us warm."

Damon returned. "Sounds like a plan."

"Would you like your tea." She offered.

"Sure, I could use the tea." He accepted.

She handed him one of the teas and sat down next to him on the couch. They began sipping at their tea, it wasn't sweet but it tasted nice.

Damon studied her features. "I know you haven't fully recovered from yesterday. But, as far as today goes how are you handling yourself?"

Bonnie sighed. "Much like you said it's going to take me a while to recover from this. Letting it out through the crying I did last night assisted me in not keeping the burden of all of it locked inside of me. I am feeling the impacts of ptsd and the fall out of trauma. It's going to take time for me to heal mentally and emotionally. I'm determined to heal because I would let Kai haunt me for the rest of my life. So, I feel better today than I did yesterday."

"Relieved to hear you say you're feeling better." Damon declared.

"And you, how are you feeling. You seem to be down today." Bonnie observed.

"I am sorrowful and troubled from yesterday and the disaster it almost turned into." Damon confessed.

"Can't blame you, yesterday wasn't easy from you either. You had to psychopaths trying to kill you and make you a part of their sickening diet." Bonnie pointed out.

Damon clutched the mug of tea in his hand. "I keep going back to the feeling of how I could have avoided yesterday all together."

Bonnie tilted her head. "How so/"

He shrugged. "If I just rejected Kai's offer to stay in that hellhole of a village than he never would have gotten the chance to plan out his twisted scheme."

She furrowed her brow. "I agreed to stay there as well."

"Only after you asked me did you agree to stay there with me." Damon mentioned.

"Are you blaming yourself for that?" Bonnie questioned with a shake of her head.

"Not exactly, Just wish I could have seen through the Parkers and realize that they weren't trustworthy and how they had ill will in mind. Turn down their offer and not open us up to being vulnerable to an attack from them. I let my guard down when I felt like I shouldn't have." Damon frowned.

Bonnie sipped more of her tea before speaking. "You let your guard down, but so did I. They lured me into believing they were decent people who I didn't have to worry about. We can't be perfect and always judge how people are going to react. As much as I try to be, I'm not always correct on my first impressions about someone. Besides hindsight is twenty-twenty."

Damon presumed. "Must of the time you are a guarded person, who doesn't just trust or rely on a lot of people to be decent. And it's with the reason to keep yourself safe. When you put your faith in my judgment that the Parker's were decent people, it allowed Kai Parker and his screwed up Klan to have access to you."

Bonnie put in. "Yeah, I'm normally a guarded person, who has walls up and doesn't just trust anyone because it's a way to protect myself. But, also because I just don't open up to strangers. And I haven't had close relationships with many people for a reason of not wanting to be backstabbed."

"But, even if I'm still cautious, as well as reluctant to rely on most people. I'm also more willing to trust people. The Parkers, Kai confirmed how there are so many, cruel, evil, sick, and disgusting people in those world. But, I also know that there are fine, decent, good natured people out there, it gives me the belief that humanity isn't all bad. And it's because I met you to know that even if a person isn't perfect there is humanity and goodness in them. You opened my eyes to this, Damon." Bonnie finished with sincerity.

"Have I?" Damon questioned in a serious tone.

"You have. And you know what else, yesterday just reinforced to be how fragile life in this environment is. How it can be taken away or altered within seconds. With all the pain, heartache, and death a person can experience. Sometimes this place is so ruthless that a person can live throughout their whole life only witnessing hardships and difficult times. And that person may never get a chance to have even a moment of peace, happiness or joy." Bonnie voiced with passion.

He listened closely, caught in every word she was saying to him.

She pressed on with animation. "Which proves all the more how precious and rare it is for some people to get to witness a chance for happiness, peace, or joy in this present environment. When we do have them it's important not to let them pass by. And embrace it to the fullest. Cherish the moments you have with someone or something who can bring you happiness, friendship, affection. Even if it's just for a few minutes each day,:

Damon was entranced with her by now. "Like I cherish every moment you and I have together for the very reasons you spoke of."

"Yes and it's why I cherish the time I have with you." Bonnie agreed.

"And when there is a chance for blissful moments, you take it with jubilation, without hesitating. And I've decided now to go full speed ahead with this chance for jubilation in my life. And when you see someone you can share intimacy, fondness, and tenderness with you embrace this opportunity and it's an opportunity I want to hold onto, right here, right now."

"I've been feeling this way for a while, but have been keeping it to myself because I wasn't sure how to go about it or what our next step would be if I did what I'm about to do. I don't want to hold back and have regrets later on in life about not taking this risk. I'm ready now to go full ahead with this opportunity I have with you to say that I'm in love with you, and I've been in love with you for quite some time." Bonnie pouring out all of her heart to him, with deep feeling, meaning, and emotion in her tone. "I love you, Damon Salvatore."

Her confession sent him into an instant high, sent him into a tailspin in a spectacular way. Hearing her just tell him how she was in love with him and loved him both. His gaze fell upon her as if she had hung on the moon, the sun, and the stars all at once and like she was an angel, his precious angel which had fallen from heaven and just appeared right in front of him out of thin air. He just stared silently at her, eyeing her intensely with his cobalt eyes.

Several minutes of silence passed between them, with sexual and romantic tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. Nervously, Bonnie bit her bottom lip anticipating his response to her confession of feelings and love for him.

Damon placed his mug of tea on the stand next to him without ever taking his intense, deep gaze off of her. His heart felt like it was soaring to new heights. He was joyful, delighted, and so amazed to learn how she felt about him, how she has shared his feelings of love he had for her in return, and how he was just as in love with her.

He wanted to shout out to her gleefully how he loved her and was in love with her as well. However, he was so touched, overwhelmed, moved, awestruck and astonished that he was rendered speechless.

So, instead of saying something, his response as to gently grab her face with his hands and press a deep, tender, longing kiss to her lips.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Here we are at last with Bonnie confessing her love for Damon and his response to it. I took the time to build them up to taking the next step in their relationship because I didn't want to rush it and set the story at a pace I was comfortable with. I hope that it was worth the wait and now we can see what happens once Bamon becomes an official romantic couple in this story!**

 **Thanks to all of you who read, review, and support this story. It is always appreciated!**

 **I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.**


	14. Very Important Author's Note:PLEASE READ

**Author's Note: PLEASE READ.**

 **First off let me apologize for it being so long since I last updated this story. I know that it has been a bad habit of mine to start stories and not update one finish them. Some life things came up in which I had to attend to, then I got off track with the updating. I actually started working on my next update for this story a while back. Yet, just didn't get around to working on finishing the update. So again sorry for not updating in a while.**

 **But, I'm planning on working on the update somewhere within the next two to three weeks. So, I figure that an update when be posted within the next month or so, depending on how long it takes me to complete the next chapter to this story. However, before I post the next update I wanted to do this author's note on some important things I need to address. Just so you won't be caught off guard or confused.**

 **Since I am planning to update soon and haven't update in a while. I reread my story to get an idea of where I am at. Along with the fact that on hiatus I have thought up and come up with new ideas, ones that I didn't have at the time of writing this story and some of this chapters for it.**

 **So, there are some tweaks and adjustments that I am making to this story. I guess you could call them slight rewrites even though they won't change the major path and plot of the story. Some changes I have made is thinking up a name for the Militia the group group started by Alaric and who Damon used to be a part of.**

 **The name of them will be "The New Dawn" so from now on when you see the term "The New Dawn" in this story it is referring to the militia. Reading back I realized also that there was a plot hole in when I wrote about the night that Damon escaped the camp base of The New Dawn and ran away. This plot hole has been nagging at me and I haven't addressed it yet. But, will in future updates of this story.**

 **Another thing I want to adjust is the amount of time that Bamon have been together in this story, along with how long they have been on this road trip. Before I wrote that they had been involved with each other for about ten months. But, I miscalculated that time since in my mind they very first met back in Arizona in late spring during the month of May. And currently in the last update they are now in fall and it is mid October. So this means that they have known each other and have been on this road trip for six months. Therefore have traveled across four states in six months. Still it is a good amount of time for them to grow a strong bond/relationship with each other under the circumstances of this story. And I thought that having Bamon meet on May the 10th would be a special little touch to add to this story. Since May 10th is a special Bamon day on the show. Only in this story they met on May 10th 2047. As the apocalypse started in 2017 and this story takes place 30 years after that.**

 **I'm also tweaking how Damon discovered the community and settlement that he and Bonnie are trying to reach in Virginia. Instead of finding out about the place with a letter. I'm going to tweak it to him finding out about it through a recording on a walkman, along with the map to the settlement. I'll write in the exact words and details of what the recording said in upcoming chapters and updates. As well as add a few more details to the story surrounding Damon's discovery about the settlement.**

 **I decided to name this settlement and the name for this settlement will be "Anex". So from now on when you see the name "Anex" in this story it is about the community that Damon and Bonnie are trying to get to.**

 **As I said these changes won't really change the direction of the central and most important plot and direction of this story. So, I didn't want to rewrite the whole thing and just figured I would make some tweaks. Because I really wouldn't be content with updating until I tweaked a few things. These are the adjustments that I have thought off of the top of my head. And wanted all those who have followed this story so more to read this important author's note.**

 **I wrote this story in the first place because I am a fan of apocalyptic movies, tv shows, and video games. And I wanted to do the genre with a Bamon story! The recent release of How It Ends with Kat Graham worked up my muse and inspired me to start working on this story again. Kat's chemistry with Theo was off of the hook. And I really loved Will and Sam together.**

 **But, I will always be a Bamon fan at heart which is why I have done a few Bamon themed stories! I hope you all have enjoyed your days since I last updated. And the next chapter I hope that you all have a wonderful time. Thanks to those who decide to still read and support this story!**


	15. Chapter 15

Their first kiss lingered for a while before Damon suddenly pulled away.

Bonnie who was completely entranced and into the first time that he had ever kissed her had her eyes closed. She was so into it, it took her a moment to realize he had stopped kissing her. Slowly, she opened her eyes wondering why he had stopped the kiss he put a start to, since seeing how from the expression on his face he was just as entranced and into their first kiss as she was.

"A,blah." Damon who was tongue tied by their kiss had to compose himself to speak properly to her. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Why are you apologizing?" Bonnie questioned.

"I just got caught up in the moment, grabbed you and kissed you. Couldn't quite help myself after what you just told me." Damon rattled off frizzled.

"And why is it a bad thing?" She asked between being amused and taken aback.

Damon quickly replied. "I probably should have asked you before I kissed you."

Bonnie returned. "So, you're apologizing for kissing me before you asked."

Damon told her. "Perhaps I should have asked for permission first you know."

Bonnie leaned forward. "Me confessing my feelings for you wasn't permission enough?"

"Yeah, well…..I don't know if I should have just assumed you would welcome be to kiss you just because." Damon said after a pause.

"I get it, you're worried about me consenting before you kiss me." Bonnie understood.

"Exactly, I don't wish to initiate something towards you without your consent." He was truly serious.

"I appreciate the thought, but there is no need for you to worry." Bonnie stated.

He looked over at her. "There's isn't?"

Her lips curved upward. "Are you kidding me, Damon. I've been waiting and wishing for you to kiss me for the longest time now."

He perked up. "Really?!"

"Really." She confirmed with a smile.

"How lovely, because I've been waiting for a while to kiss you as well." Damon grinned.

"Then I hope it was worth the wait for you." Bonnie vocalized with enthusiasm.

"Oh, definitely, our first kiss was well worth the wait!." Damon exclaimed.

Bonnie shifted. "Wonderful, I feel the exact same way."

Damon just kept grinning. "Like I said, I caught up in the moment…...what I felt when you confessed your feelings for me."

She felt warmed by his reaction and the tone in his voice as he spoke to her.

"When I heard those words come from your beautiful lips, it was as if I got put into some waking dream. A excellent, beautiful dream." He went on.

"You mean the words, I love you." Bonnie hinted with coyness.

"Yes, those brilliant words." Damon asserted.

A sparkle entered into her emerald green eyes. "Well, it's not a dream, this is real, what I feel for you is real. And I meant it will I told you that I love you and am in love with you, Damon Salvatore."

His heart leapt again at hearing her say this to him and the meaning she put behind it. "And hearing you tell me this is like a man having long big glass of ice cold water, after spending days lost in the desert of thirst. It's like having a bit of food after weeks of starvation. You confessing your love for me is like finding light after endless years of darkness."

Bonnie chuckled, touched by his response. "So, I take this to mean that you return my feelings."

"Return them equally and just as strongly." Damon declared.

This time it was Bonnie who grinned.

"I'm going to say this to you now and I mean every last word. I too love you, Bonnie Bennett and I'm ten thousand percent in love with you, more than words can ever explain." Damon confessed with sincerity.

"I'm grateful for it, to know how you share my love for you. I held back how I felt for you, partly because I wasn't sure how to proceed with him I felt and partly because I wasn't sure of how you would react if I confessed my feelings for you." Said Bonnie.

"Again, I felt the same way. I hesitated to tell you how my feelings had gotten to the next level for you. Because I hoped, but wasn't all of the way sure that you would feel equally the same way about me. And also I've never been in love with a woman before you so, I wasn't sure how to approach the situation." Damon admitted.

It delighted her on the inside, hearing him say that there wasn't a woman he had been in love with before. Meaning he was admitting to herself being the first one he had ever fallen in love with. It thrilled her and had fer feeling cocky on a slight level.

"But, now we know how we feel about each other, so we don't have to hesitate no longer." Bonnie pressed softly.

"We sure don't. And you're absolutely correct about how fragile and short life can be. And how yesterday proved it. As terrible as yesterday was it could have been worst. It was awful what Kai did, tried to do to you. I however know you can recover and come back from that."

"What you couldn't have come back from is if you have been killed or would have died yesterday. Then your life could have been lost and that would be the most tragic thing. And if you had lost your life, it would have been a tragedy in which I could never emotionally or mentally come back from." Damon expressed to her.

She reached over and put a supportive, loving hand on his knee. "It was scary for me, having the physical,violent confrontation with Kai, where I had to fight not just for my life, but for my sexual well being in not having the pig try to take me by force. Yet, I lived through it, I'm going to get through the aftermath of what he attempted to do against me."

"I wasn't the only one who had my life threatened yesterday. You had some of the Parkers try to end your life, well being as well."

Damon nodded. "Indeed, we both could have had a meeting with the grim reaper, however neither of us did. Thankfully."

Bonnie repeated. "Neither of us did."

He pressed on. "Because we are survivors, you and I both."

"And the two of us will keep surviving whatever the world tries to throw at us." Bonnie nodded towards him.

Reaching down, he grabbed her hand which she had rested on his knee, then grabbed her other hand with his other one. And for a moment just held her hands in his. Appreciating how delicate and small they looked in his larger ones.

Silently she looked at her hands which her in his and admired the contrast of their two different skin tones.

"As you said this is a chance and an opportunity to fully embrace the offering place before us. And I'm going to take this chance at pouring out my heart to you and letting you know all I've been wanting to tell you." Damon continued.

Bonnie focused on him, listening intently.

"You know I keep going back to how we first met, I've often done it ever since we have gotten close. And I'm always in amazement with how far we have come. But, now I look back ever more ever since I discovered I was in love with you. I think now from the time when I first laid eyes on you...I just knew there was something about you which would draw me to you." Damon voiced with affection.

"You did, huh?" Bonnie cocked her head to the side.

"Perhaps it was the way you had your gun aimed at me, how pissed you look, as if you were ready to put a bullet between my eyes at any second." Damon emphasized.

"Seriously, me pointing a gun at you is what drew you to me. When men makes a list of what draws him to a woman, I'm certainly sure how one with a gun aimed at them wouldn't be on most of their lists." Bonnie stated with humor.

He smirked. "I'm not most guys though, Bon-Bon."

She joked. "You got that right."

He laughed as he went on. "I guess it was more so the toughest that I saw in you. And understanding at the very instant as you were aiming your handgun at me, how you meant business. And was a woman who could more then handle herself and took no shit from no one. And would make those who crossed or threatened her regret it, as I almost regretted it." A twinkle entered into Damon's ice blue eyes he thought back to the minute when he had been stuffing food in his mouth, just to turn and see one very upset looking woman with emerald green eyes, glaring him down as she pointed her hand gun at him.

A woman who at first was a stranger, but wasn't any longer. A woman who he now knew as Bonnie, who he had been traveling with for many months.

"Almost regretted it." Bonnie smirked in good nature.

"You weren't very pleased with me to say the least." Damon took his turn with being amused.

"I was rather pissed." Bonnie reminisced as she recalled walking into her house back in Arizona, seeing this strange man in her place, wolfing down all of the food she had collected and saved up through her smuggling. How infuriated she felt of the audacity of this stranger eating what she had worked so hard to get in a world where food was so hard to come by. And how she felt how he might have been as threat to her safety as well, so she pulled out the gun on him.

He ran his thumb over her knuckles. "Anyway I had a feeling then, what is confirmed to me now, it's how you're this fierce, fiery, strong, kick ass, bad ass woman. And the kind of woman which I had never met before."

She beamed at him. "I'll admit my first impressions of you weren't great. Thinking you were some lazy, cowardly bandit who stole what other people worked hard for."

He narrowed his eyes at her in a kind hearted gesture. "Understandable."

"However, I can admit for the most part how my first impressions about you were wrong. I didn't trust you at first, wasn't open to any type of personal relationship with you or anyone really. Eventually, though I changed my mind and my views about you and so glad I did, because it lead me to building a inseparable relationship with you and got the two of us where we are today." Bonnie told her with sincerity.

"And I'm honestly, constantly grateful for the chance you've gave to me to be a part of your life and have a friendship with you." Damon told her.

"Well. I'm grateful for giving you a chance too. It got me to me not so closed off and guarded as a person. And it was a fine instance for us both which got us two to be where we are on this day." Bonnie commented.

Said Damon. "A very fine instance indeed. I guess you not shooting me showed how we were just meant to be."

Bonnie smiled because it was a strange as it might have sounded, he was telling the truth. Everything from the first moment which played out since they met had done so in a way because they were meant to be. Including her not shooting him.

Going on, Damon kept on expressing to her that which was on his heart and mind. "I'll always look back to the very first day we met because it was what brought you into my life. Looking back on it now, I can celebrate such a day and will forever celebrate it because it's the day in which my life started to change for the better. And I wake every morning extremely thankful to that day and how you impacted my life."

She was extremely moved by the words falling from his poetic lips.

"You saved me, Bonnie you really did. Not just those times when you had by back, saving my ass in the physically manner. You saved me in all of the ways a man like me can be saved. You saved me emotionally, personally. I'm a different man than I was all because of you." Damon got choked up with emotion.

"It means a lot to hear you tell this to me, because it goes both ways, you saved me as well, Damon Salvatore." Bonnie returned with equal emotion.

He gave her a smile filled with affection and admiration.

"I too am grateful for the day you came into my life. I often think 'what if'. What if the situation had played out differently and we never met. Or if you had been long gone by the time I came back to that house and we would have never ran into each other, I would have never seen you. Just seeing a bunch of my food missing, being pissed off and having no idea as to who stole it." Bonnie let out a laugh.

Her laugh made him chuckle reaction.

She carried on overwhelmed by the feelings and love for him which were running currently running through her. "You could have found some other house to try and search through, one miles away from where I was living, But, somehow, someway the path you took as you traveled lead you directly to me."

"Because it was our fate and destiny to meet each other." Damon muttered.

"Exactly, fate is what lead us to be together. I have no clue as to where I would be if we had never ran into each other. Perhaps still staying in that house where you found me back in Arizona. Or some where else on the West Coast doing smuggling and trading for supplies and food. With nothing but the goal of getting by each day and surviving."

"I know for a fact where ever I would have been, it would only be content with getting through each day. But, I know I wouldn't be where I am at now and that is with you, by your side and being happy, joyful. Filled with the appreciation of what it feels like to have a special, close bond with someone. And being able have a friendship which grew into something more. And learning what it's like to love someone and be loved in return. And gaining all of everything which is gained through positive relationships. I could have missed out on that and would never have had a clue if I didn't meet you." Bonnie whispered.

Damon cleared his throat. "We're fortunate aren't we, to have found each other in such a shit world. And to learn what love really is, not everyone gets a chance at such a thing."

Bonnie moved in agreement. "Yes, we are very fortunate to have found each other. We're aware of how difficult it can be to find love and happiness on this dark planet. Which is why it's important to embrace what we have."

"Some might call it luck." Damon mumbled. "But, it's a luck I'm glad to have and I'm glad to have you."

Bonnie gave him a sweet expression.

"Honestly, as much as we hope for this place where we're handed to, the settlement of an oasis that is in Virginia. There is a chance we could be heading to a dead end." Damon mentioned.

"You mean a chance for the settlement in Mystic Falls not being real or truly there or whoever made that map just made it up for some reason." Bonnie pronounced

Releasing one of her hands, he gestured to where the map laid in his duffle bag. "Right, I mean I wanted for both of us to believe this place is real, because we need something to motivate and give us hope that their can be light and life reached in a world of death and darkness. But, you know what?" Damon pressed on.

"What?" Bonnie questioned curious.

"Even for some reason that settlement is a fairy tale and isn't real I think we'll be alright." Damon told her.

"You do." She brushed her hair out of her face as she eyed him.

"I do, because we'll still have each other, no matter what. If the settlement is real then excellent, you and I will get the opportunity to gain all the settlement has to offer and we can begin our new life together. If it's not, then we'll both be disappointed sure we will. But, we'll be alright and we will find a way to adjust to it." Damon gave the clarification.

This Bennett woman understood completely where he was coming from, and she completely concurred with him. "You know, I get where you are coming from. I think there is a big percent chance that this advanced community in Mystic Falls, Virginia we're trying to get to is real. If it's not though it won't be the end of the world in any sense."

"Indeed it won't be because you and I have each other. We have survived this long, if the settlement isn't real we will still find some way to survive. We would come up with another plan, find someplace to settle down in. We would have to live off of the land, hunt, fish, and eat wild plants and fruits for food."

"Also find some solidly structured building or house which we could live in." Damon put in.

"True, wherever the end of our destination leads us, the most crucial detail is us being together. We can manage anything together and overcome all obstacles. Wherever the road leads us to, what I wish for the most is always having you by my side." Bonnie commented.

He leaned into her a little. "See this is why we get each other, why were often on the same level with our thoughts and feelings. Settlement or no settlement, all paths I take is having you with me."

Her lips curved. "You got that right."

Damon just stared deeply at her for a moment.

Bonnie licked her lips before saying. "Now that we have gotten all of our feelings off of all chest and have had this lovely conversation about what we mean to the other, I just need a favor from you."

"Yeah?" Damon arched a brow.

"Yeah." Bonnie repeated.

"Name the favor." Damon breathed out.

Bonnie swiped her hand across his chest. "I need you to kiss me again."

A flirtatious look came into Damon's eyes. "Oh."

Bonnie bit her bottom lip in a teasing fashion. "I mean you won't always have to ask for permission to kiss me, just do it on impulse, because I would welcome your kisses. So, I'm asking you to kiss me again, because we kissed by once by you isn't enough."

Damon lowered his tone sexily. "There are plenty of kisses from where the first one came from."

"Prove it." Bonnie challenged moving yet closer to him.

"Gladly." Damon said

And to prove it he grabbed her face once again and pressed his lips onto hers.

Signing, she fully kissed him back and fell immediately into the kiss.

Deepening the kiss, he couldn't help but to take notice of how soft and warm her lips felt against his. He cupped her face in his hands, savoring the taste of her lips against his.

The method in which he was kissing her with had her feeling weak in the knees and it was like she didn't want this kiss to end.

This kiss which was filled with tenderness, affection, and love lasted for a while longer than their first one had before they both pulled away.

They just looked at each other for a few seconds before both breaking out in laughter.

"Whew, Damon you are one hell of a kisser." Bonnie fanned herself with her hand.

"Yeah, I know." Damon wiggled his eyebrows.

Bonnie playfully rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you're a wonderful kisser too. To finally feel your lovely, soft lips on mine is something that I live for." Damon told her.

"Then you better get used to it, this is far from the last time that these lovely, soft lips will be on yours!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"I will, I will, get used to it. Trust me I will!" Damon stated gleefully.

She reacted by giggling.

He chuckled, relieved to see her feelings and spirits lifted compared to what she was struggling through the day before. He supposed it was proof of how love could help heal a person who went through a troubling experience like she had to go through.

Bonnie rubbed her hands together. "Since we have established being in love, how about we make a declaration."

"A Declaration." Damon tilted his head.

"A declaration how and now, that you and I will make this official. Meaning we declare that we're on the next level now, still best friends. But, also romantically together, lovers, and a couple." Bonnie hinted.

"Yes, we're officially together from this day forth, you and I, Damon Salvatore and Bonnie Bennett. Who have reciprocated our being in love, are now in a dating relationship. Let's fully embrace being lovers and see where destiny takes us." Damon proclaimed.

Bonnie avowed cheerfully. "From this day forward we're officially a lovey-dovey partnership and you are my man."

Damon loved the sound of that. "Whoa, could you say those last words again."

Bonnie duplicated. "You are my man!."

He pressed a dramatic hand to his chest. "You've just made me the most charmed man on this earth, Bon-Bon."

She looked on with fondness.

"A charmed man who can call, Bonnie Bonnett his girlfriend, the love of his life, and the first and only woman he has ever been in love with." Damon expressed to her.

They kissed once more for the third time, except for this time it was her who initiated the kiss. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his as she moved her fingers along his hairline at the back of his neck.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drew her closer to him, pressing her body against his.

This kiss became more intense than their other two were and they were definitely getting used to kissing each other, as it was the third time they had kissed in the short period between them confessing being in love with each other.

The kiss quickly grow more passionate, more heated, and more desire filled. Their tongues battled with the mutual feeling of longing and need. The kiss was so intense that it was on the verge of making her wet between the legs and had her beginning to wish how she wanted to do more than just kiss this amazing man who was placed before her.

Turned on by the kiss as much as she was, he lifted her by the waist onto his lap, all while maintaining the kiss.

Bonnie took him up on his cue and straddled his lap, with her legs on either side of him. The kiss lingered and lingered, with them only taking a second to catch their breaths before resuming the kiss.

He could feel the results of their kissing began to have the blood flow to his crotch, as he began to stiffen down there. Not only because of the kiss, but also because he could feel her center pressed directly against his. Even through the barrier of the pants they both were wearing, he could feel the heat flow from her private parts onto his.

She could feel his hardness through her pants, it made her gasp in response as she continued to passionately kiss him.

Encouraged by her response, he lifted his hips a little to grind his clothed dick into her heated, covered up vagina.

Again she gasped in response, her entire body waking up and being very turned on by his movements. So, she gave him as good as he was giving her and she pressed down and grinded herself on top of him. Putting her hands on his board shoulders to balance herself.

And for some prolonged minutes they did this sensual dance with each other. Grinding their private parts together which had the both of them growing hotter and hotter by the second. They dry humped with extra precision. Breaking apart their kiss to breath heavily and lustly into each others faces. Neither said much of anything but both were letting out sounds of pleasure, as they both were clearly enjoying this sexy ride.

The more they grinded and dry humped, the wetter she became and the harder he became. As his hardened length strained against his pants, he moved to pressed his lips to her jawline. Proceeded to kiss a trail from her jawline to her neck.

Bonnie reacted to this by releasing a small moan from her mouth.

Damon began to suck some on her neck, tasting the sensitive flesh that rested there.

And she let out yet small moan as this sucking stirred up the raising desires inside of her.

This continued on, with him altering between grinding himself into her and him feeding on her neck. It reached a point where they were both so turned on, that it nearly drove them insane to have each other. The lust between them at the moment was so thick that it couldn't be cut with a knife.

There was no doubt the connection of need between them told them now that they wanted to do more than just kiss. They wanted to take it to the next level.

Damon couldn't help but to have the strong urge to strip her naked and to bury his hardness deep into her moist center, pounding away until they both were spent. Yet, he held back from doing this waiting until she gave him the signal to proceed with their make out further.

Bonnie was so wet at this point, she could feel it soak through her panties. She wanted him, wanted to roll around bed naked with him. However, she pressed her hand on his chest.

"Wait." She breathed out.

Automatically he listened to her,halted his kisses, make out session with her.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" His voice was husky with lust.

"No, not at all." Bonnie shook her head.

"Are we moving too fast for you then?" Damon questioned respectfully.

"Not that either. Before we go further with this, I have something to tell you." Bonnie replied.

Damon said back. "Okay."

Because she knew how she wouldn't be able to focus with her straddled across his lap in this sexual manner. Bonnie maneuvered, got up and stood. Found her knees wobbly as a result of the dry humping session she had with him. Although she maintained him.

He remained seated on the couch, ordered his loins to settle down until he had listened to her.

"I…..um, I'm a virgin." Bonnie let him know.

"Wow, you are…...interesting." Damon vocalized in an easy going tone.

"Does this surprise you?" Bonnie watched him for his reaction.

Damon shrugged. "I don't know, I wouldn't exactly say surprised. Maybe I had some sort of assumption you had been with someone before."

Bonnie stated. "Well, I haven't, I haven't been with any person. Man or woman sexually."

Damon was fully supportive of her. "There isn't shame in being a virgin."

She pursed her lips together. "Some people might shame others for remaining a virgin."

"Those people are jackasses." Damon waved a dismissing hand towards him.

"They are." Bonnie agreed.

"So, is this why you weren't that open with me about your love or sex life. Because you haven't been with a person before?" Damon asked in a nice tone.

"Yep, it was part of the reason why at least." Bonnie remembered back to when he had questioned her about her love life.

"Were you embarrassed or something about being a virgin, is that why you kept it from me?" Damon wondered.

She looked over in his direction. "More like I just wasn't comfortable with revealing something so personal about me at the time."

Leaning back on the couch he nodded.

Bonnie paced back and forth in front of him. "As we were really getting into it, which the environment getting hot and heavy between us. I realized what was about to happen, because I needed to tell you the truth, it's very important you know this."

Damon gave her a nod. "I understand you perfectly. And I'm pleased you are comfortable enough and trust me enough to reveal such an intimate detail about your life to me."

"As we promised before, we keep no secrets from each other, right. I had to tell you this because this is such a game changer for me, our relationship. You know that you've been the first person I've really trusted, have gotten close to and opened myself up to." Bonnie went on.

From where he sat on the couch, Damon followed her around with his eyes as she paced back and forth in front of him.

"So, this is very special, important, and noteworthy for me. I've never had sex with a man before, you would be the first ever I gave myself to." Bonnie commented with a soft tone of voice.

"I'm aware of what it means to lose your virginity, how you didn't just give yourself to anyone. I'm more aware of what it means to you if you are ready to lose it with me, and because of how special it is, it means as much to me that you would consider giving yourself to me in that fashion. I'll do my best to make your first time remarkable if you are ready for me to." Damon told her with kindness mixed with caring.

"I appreciate that very much." She stated back to him.

Damon rubbed the back of his neck. "Also however, just because we confessed to being in love with each other doesn't mean we have to jump into the bed together."

Bonnie stopped her pacing. "It doesn't?"

Damon explained. "Guess what I mean is if you aren't willing to go there just yet then I can wait. We don't have to get naked, make love, or have sex until you are ready to do so."

She approached him standing in front of where he sat. "You would be willing to wait for me?"

"Bon-Bon, I would wait one thousand years for you if I had to." He confirmed with a thumbs up.

"I fully believe I am ready to have sex and make love with you." Bonnie stated with confidence.

"Are you positive of this, I wouldn't want to make you feel pressured or nothing like that." Damon mumbled.

"I don't feel pressured." Bonnie said to him.

"No doubts?" Damon wondered.

She replied again with confidence. "No doubts, I promise you there are zero doubts in my mind."

His lips curved. "Well, alright then."

Brushing her fingers through the hair which was on the top of his head, she smiled a little. "Though you know, your being so considerate and generous of me and my feelings, in wanting to make sure I am ready for sex attracts me to you all the more."

"Not much of a big deal." Damon shrugged.

"To me it is." Bonnie corrected. "I'm knowledgeable about how the world is and was to know that not every man accepts no for an answer."

It dawned on him how she had to be hinting at what had happened between her and Kai the day before. And how Kai had refused to take no for an answer. And had then tried to force himself on her before she had slit his throat.

"I'm sorry, I should have thought before I spoke." Damon quickly apologized.

"You're fine, I know no harm was intended by what you said. As I stated it's a very big deal how you are willing to wait for me and don't want to pressure sex on me." Bonnie voiced.

"I respected you too much to do an asshole thing like that." Damon was serious about this subject.

"I believe you are, it's making you irresistible to me right now." Bonnie mentioned.

He just took one of her hands, bringing it to his lips.

Bonnie admitted. "I must disclose, I am sort of nervous with it being my first time."

Damon pointed out, "Only natural for you to feel that way."

"Hmmmm." She processed.

"Hey, being honest with the both of us, I would say that I'm sort of nervous right now." Damon too admitted.

"Even if you aren't a virgin." She wrinkled her nose in an adorable manner.

"Even if I'm not a virgin. I've had sex before, sure. But, it was just sex with other women and nothing more than sex. Just something done to get my physical sexual needs met. Even though I want to be with you in a very high sexual nature, it's more than just that with you. For the first time in my life, I wish to actually make love to a woman I'm in love with. And the woman happens to be you. So, my nervousness comes more from the fact of you being the first and only woman I have ever been in love with and realizing it would be more than just sex with you."

The way he voiced it had her feeling touched, the corner of her mouth lifted. "Wow, it makes a lot of sense when you say it in such a manner."

"Plus, if helps, I've actually hadn't had sex in a prolonged while. I was celibate even before I Ieft my camp base" Damon brought up. Which was the honest truth, he had about three sexual encounters with three different women since he had lost his virginity at seventeen. However, the last woman he was with was Krystal and just as he had told Bonnie he had broken things off with her.

After that break up he didn't have sex for nearly five months, then it was after the time lapse of those nearly five months which he had escaped the base, eventually running into Bonnie weeks later.

He was correct about this point, She thought, he hadn't had sex since before they met. Which meant it had been some months since he last laid with a woman. Was it most likely because the opportunity never arrived where he could get it on with a woman, due to the circumstances he had to endure upon escaping where he had come from? He still had a point nonetheless.

"So, while I'm not a virgin, I am starting anew." Damon added.

She hunched a shoulder. "Starting anew is enough for me. Really doesn't matter to me who you were with before, as long as you're with me now."

He delivered to her with belief. "I'm with you one hundred percent."

She suggested. "How about we pick up where we left off."

"Just another thing." He went.

"Yes?" She arched a brow.

Damon got to his feet, standing in front of her.

She had to tilt her head to look up at him sure to their height difference.

"Because of what went down the day before today in the Parker village, along with that bastard Kai attacking you. Even though I have no doubts how you are strongly processing yourself through the effects of it. I also know you are still suffering at least partly right now emotionally, mentally as a result. Which may mean you are emotionally vulnerable at this time. I wouldn't want to take advantage of that." Damon told her.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of me trust me, Damon." Bonnie returned to him.

"I do trust you, Bonnie one hundred percent." Damon vocalized.

"Then trust me when I say I'm not vulnerable in the way you may be concerned about. Yes, it's true how the events of yesterday spurred my decision to confess by love for you, it got me to open up to you in the romantic sense. However, even though I'm still being affected by what happened and nearly happened against me, I assure you that you shouldn't have to be concerned of taking advantage in any shape or fashion."

"I have faith in what I'm prepared to do with you, I have faith in how I feel about you, I have faith in my ability to make this decision. And I have faith I won't regret giving myself sexually to you." Bonnie stated with firmness.

He gripped her hand once more, in a gesture of support and love. "And I have faith in us."

Taking his hand in which she had gripped her hand with. She turned it so that his palm was facing upward, pressed a tender kiss to it. A move which she did to symbolized her admiration for these hands and the man they belonged to, knowing how he had used these hands to kill so many Parkers in order to save her. Despite it being at risk of himself and his own life.

Yet, knowing how he would kill those who threatened her with his bare hands if he had to, just to protect her and keep her safe, only added to the amount of love she felt for this man.

Her gesture, along with feeling her lips on the palm of his hand did a combination on him. A combination which impacted him both physically and emotionally. Physically it had his already hardened cock stiffen even more. Emotionally it inspirited him.

"Yesterday was terrible, it will always be terrible but I don't want to think about yesterday and I don't want you to be worried about it either. Would it be all right it you and I could just put those events to the side right now?" Bonnie questioned.

"More than all right, I'm all for doing what it takes to make you comfortable." Damon commented, he meant every word of it.

"All I need is for us just to focus on this what we have in front of us. Nothing, no one else. Just us here in this moment showing each other how much we feel. Clear our minds of all except each other. All I'm thinking and focusing on at this time is being with you." Bonnie communicated with meaning.

"My mind, my heart is currently filled with you, only you. So, indeed let's spend this time clearing our minds,hearts all but for each other. No one else matters, this belongs to us and not a single person can break that. For this instance you are I are the only persons in the world." Damon expressed with endearment.

Once again she got overwhelmed with the feelings she had for him. "I love you, Damon."

Damon told her. "I love you too, Bonnie."

Bonnie wondered. "So, you want me."

He saw her through intimacy. "I've been dreaming about having you naked longer than you can imagine."

His bold declaration had her feeling weak in the knees again.

"Let's make both of our dreams come true then, let's make love for our very first time." Bonnie hotly ran a finger across his chest.

"Not another moment to be wasted, the love making shall proceed between us." Damon totally agreed.

"Yeah, let's get to it." Bonnie put in.

"Yeah." Damon nodded.

For half of a minute they stared at each other as if they were waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Umm, are we waiting for something?" Bonnie questioned amused.

"I'm waiting on you!" Damon exclaimed.

"Are you now." Bonnie pressed with slyness.

He chuckled. "Since you are a virgin, I thought you would be more comfortable with making the first move perhaps."

Bonnie chuckled as well. "Oh, I see."

Damon prompted. "Just tell me what you wish to do next."

Running her tongue over her bottom lip she told him. "We shouldn't do it in here."

"Then where." Damon arched a brow.

"I figure the bed would be much more comfortable for us to roll around naked in." Bonnie boldly implied.

The pupils of his eyes darkened in desire. "Lead the way."

With him encouraging her she took his hand, then started walking them in the direction of the stairs.

Following along behind her as if she was leading him to the fountain of youth known as Bonnie Bennett. As well as checking out her butt as he did so.

Wordlessly Bonnie walked him up the stairs, taking them as fast as she could. As the wetness which presided in her pants, and her very turned on Bonnie told her she couldn't wait for much longer to have Damon Salvatore. She may have been a virgin, but she realized when her worked up body needed release when it needed it.

He accompanied her into the master bedroom, where the fire was still roaring in its fireplace. Giving off a toasty, warm heat. Which rivaled the heat in his body he had developed for her.

She stepped just short of the bed before turning around to face him. Nervousness afresh rose up inside of her. She was really about to do this with him.

Damon saw a nervousness in her that matched his own. "Go at your own pace, there's no rush here. We have all day."

Inching closer to him, she cupped his cheek in her head in a gentle, tender gesture.

He closed his eyes at her touch, embracing the warmness of it.

Bonnie proceeded to place a light kiss on his lips. "You're going to be mine forever."

"Damn right about that." Damon thought as she would be his forever as well.

"Could you do the favor of undressing for me." Bonnie pondered with some shyness.

"Well, Bonnie Bennett believe me when I say, what you just requested from me is the sexiest words I have ever experienced from a woman's lips." Damon's voice deepened as the expression on his face beamed.

She licked her top lip. "I just figured I would let you go first in getting undressed this time to be nice and all."

He smirked slightly as his icy blue eyes burned with desire for her. "Oh, I see just to be nice."

She gave him a glorious wink. "The faster you get naked, the faster that _I_ can get naked."

Damon whistled. "Shit then I don't want to waste anymore time."

Bonnie chuckled as she was trying to smooth down the butterflies in her stomach which was still high inside of her as she was prepared but more than ready to lose her virginity to the man that she loved.

Eyeing her with a very serious and sincere expression of love and devotion, Damon removed his shirt first. Pulling it over his head and quickly tossing it to the side.

With her emerald green eyes fully, completely focused on him, she looked upon his bare chest, his six pack abs, broad muscular shoulders and bulging biceps. She had seen him shirtless of course more than once. Yet this time was different because this was the first time that he was shirtless in front of her with the full intention of making love with her and to her.

So, seeing his bare torso before her now was very special and enthralling. Although she had been attracted to his shirtless form before, this time she could show her attraction to him out in the open since they had confessed their feelings and love for each other. Not keep her thoughts about him to herself as she had been doing.

Quickly as he felt his hardness press itself against his pants, Damon put his hands on the waistband off his pants. Then he proceeded to push them down his long legs until they were bunched up at his feet. He kicked them to the side to join his shirt which was on the floor while never taking his eyes off of her.

For the moment the only thing that was preventing him from being completely naked was the boxers that he wore.

Realizing that she was about to see her man naked for the very first time, Bonnie felt the heartbeat picked up in anticipation.

Holding her at her word on how she would get naked as soon as he was Damon wasted not a minute more. As he quickly removed his boxers, in the same manner and method in which he had removed his pants. Once the boxers were laying next to his pants and shirt there was not another piece of clothing left on him. He stood in front of her now nude from head to toe.

For a few long seconds she kept her eyes on his face before they fell to his bare chest and torso. When it came to the part of him in which she was the most desired and eager to see, she bit her bottom lip with her teeth.

Observing her in his heated gaze, Damon saw as her eyes fell below his waist questioning to himself just what her reaction would be to his throbbing length.

Bonnie allowed her eyes to fully go below his waist, she had remembered back to all of that time ago when he had just taken a shower and washed off under the waterfall that time when they had camped outside in Texas for a few days. How dripping wet his hair was and how the towel he had on was wrapped low around his waist.

And how she had wondered to herself what treasure of his laid underneath said towel. Well now it was revealed to her and a treasure it certainly turned out to be. To say she was taken aback was an understatement. She had seen naked men before….sort of in one of those dirty magazines she had ran upon by accident when she was eighteen and had looked through its pages out of pure curiosity.

Still the men who were in those magazines had nothing on Damon Salvatore. Not only was his wildly handsome, gorgeous facial features carved out by the gods. With eyes that seemed to be blessed by the heavens. His body, every single inch of it seemed the work of the greek gods as well.

Bonnie had heard the term "hung like a horse" when it came to a couple of folks explaining the size of a man's manhood. Well, this was the first time in which she was getting a up close and personal view on _exactly_ what such a term meant.

Damon Salvatore was _huge_ in both length and width. She suspected that he was huge even in his "unaroused, relaxed" state. Yet now as he stood in front of her fully erect his size really showed. His impressive cock was poked out, with a length and width bigger than she had seen from any of those men in those dirty magazines. A couple of veins ran through it, what she assumed was precum oozed out of it's tip.

The sight of his cock made her even wetter and hotter between the legs.

He stood there with a half arrogant, half aroused look on his face as he watched her eye his hardened length like she could devour it right then and there. As it was obvious by how her green eyes darkened that she was more than aroused by his nude body, yet he said nothing.

After staring below his waist for a moment longer, she lifted her eyes back up to his face and made eye contact with her. Released her bottom lip from her teeth to speak. At first her voice came out raspy, affected by how turned on she was.

Which made him arch an eyebrow along with his signature smirk.

So Bonnie cleared her throat to speak again. "Well, Well Damon I do have to say that every inch of your body is magnifcentifully stunning."

"Is it so?" Damon couldn't help but to grin at how she described it.

"It is so. As I said every damn inch of you is very impressive and I do mean every damn _inch."_ Bonnie emphasized boldly, with heated desire.

"Then aren't we both so lucky how every inch of this body will belong to you and how part it's many, many inches will be buried inside of you soon enough." Damon growled out giving her an intense gaze.

"Guess it is my turn now." Bonnie returned.

He gestured. "Take your time." He meant it, yet still at the same time was eager to see her nude form.

She let out a breath, then did opposite of what he did, meaning she started with taking off her pants first, instead of going for her shirt first like he had. She slide the pants down her legs, kicked them off and to the side much like he had done with his.

Then she moved onto her panties, pushing them slowly down as if she was giving him a small strip tease.

He watched licking his lips as she moved her panties down her legs, the scent of her strong, heavy arousal hit his nose almost immediately and made his mouth water.

Encouraged by his reaction, she tossed her panties to the side and because she wanted to be rolling around in bed with him naked as soon as possible she moved to remove her sweater.

As she began to pull it up and over her torso he watched her with baited breath, in anticipation and his anticipation went up more and more with every inch of her bare torso that was revealed to him.

When the sweater was completely over her head, Bonnie let it fall effortlessly to the floor. And at this very moment in time she was just as naked as he was. She bit her bottom lip again keeping her eyes trained on his face for his reaction.

Immediately he shamelessly, enthusiastically began drinking her in with his eyes. His eyes fell down to her feet, slowly traveling downwards. From her bare feet they traveled upwards, up her smooth shapely legs, legs that seemed a mile long, despite the fact that she was short compared to him.

Then they traveled up to her pelvic area, with her curvy hips and despite the fact that she was facing with her front towards him, he knew she had quite the ass. He could see that through the clothes she weared. But, now he had a chance to get a view of her ass without the barrier of clothes blocking his way. And he intended to get a great view of that ass.

Yet, her facing forward did allow him to get a excellent peak at what laid between her legs and thighs. The triangular shape of her sex was out of the open there for him to see, he could see how she had shaved and had kept the area around it mostly free of any pubic hair. He knew from what she had told him more than once how she always tried to keep up with her hygiene as best as she could under the circumstances of showering and bathing being so hard to come by.

Still he was slightly taken aback how she had chosen shave down there from wherever she had found a shaving razor from on one of their many search for the abandoned buildings they had done throughout their traveling. But, even if she hadn't shaved down there, he still would have very much so wanted to both taste her and be inside of her. It didn't matter how the vagina was to him, as long as the vagina belonged to Bonnie Bennett.

After a minute longer his eyes traveled further upwards, over her flat tummy and up to her breasts, once again his mouth watered when he saw them. Her breasts were perfect in every way. They were round,plump, not too big, but neither too small. Just the right size to fit into a man's hands, his hands. And to top of these perfectly plump, round and luscious breasts were her nipples, darker in color than the rest of her body with the areole surrounding it. Even better was how taunt and hard her nipples were from her obvious state of being turned on.

Bonnie stood there in silence as he was taking his time drinking her in with his eyes, the look in his eyes made her feel weak in the knees and even hornier if possible. Even though she could see how he obvious was enjoying the sight of her, she still wondered what he was thinking inside of that head of his. This was the first time she had been nude of front of any man.

Damon's thoughts went into overdrive. This woman before him was a true sight to behold in her natural form. Her golden brown skin smooth and flawless and while she was petite she had curves everywhere in all of the right places. All of the walking they constantly had done, had turned her body into this fit,toned physique yet still was femininely soft. Everything from head to toe on her was even better than he imagined, out of all of those times he had caught himself wondering how she would look like without her clothes on.

Yet, he didn't have to use his imagination anymore since here she was standing before him without a single layer of clothes. Finally after sending several minutes gazing over her body his eyes connected back to her face.

"Wow." Damon let out a breath he realized he wasn't holding in until now.

Suddenly feeling bashful Bonnie briefly diverted her eyes from his.

"Hey." He said to her.

She kept her eyes diverted still feeling somewhat bashful.

"Hey." Damon repeated. "Bon-Bon, look at me."

"Yes, Damon?" Bonnie returned her green eyes to meet his blue ones.

Damon stated with the voice of a man who was swept off of his feet. "You are absolutely beautiful."

Bonnie stated with the voice of a woman who was on cloud nine and head over heels in love. "Really?"

Damon confirmed with awe. "Honestly, truly, the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on. Phenomenal, remarkable, striking, gorgeous, and one hundred percent breathtaking."

"Breathtaking." Bonnie smiled at that particular word, every single word he had just used to describe her had her feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

"Breathtaking, like you're actually taking my breath away right now. Every damn inch of you is impressive and I do mean every damn _inch_." Damon voiced using the same words with the same heat she had before.

She eyed him with passion as she told him. "I'm more than glad that you're the very first man to see every damn inch of this body then."

He just gave her a nod of appreciation.

For a short while they stood in the bedroom, standing apart a few feet from each other. Staring at each other's nude forms as the light from the fireplace lit the room. Casting an orange glow and shadows over them with it's bouncing flames. As they looked at each other with need,yearning and longing.

Then Bonnie crooked her finger towards him, giving him the sexiest come hither expression she could muster up. Wordlessly she gestured with the finger to stop closer to her.

Letting out an audible gulp, he quickly closed the gap between them until they were standing just inches apart, with her perky breasts nearly touching his chest.

With him standing so close to her now she had to tilt her head a little to look up at him.

He smiled down at her.

She smiled back.

One more time he lowered his eyes to take in her body, that was when he noticed something he hadn't noticed when he was standing a few feet away from her. On her arm was a large bruise which caused the smile to drop from his face. He hadn't noticed it before due to the long sleeved shirts and jackets she had wore since they had escaped from the crossway village some miles back.

Yet, even if he hadn't seen it until now he knew what was the cause of why she had the nasty bruise on her arm. Or more like who was the cause. It was a bruise caused by Kai Parker, Kai Parker who was at fault for marring her beautiful skin with this bruise.

Suddenly, anger rose anew in him, as he had flashbacks to what had happened just the day before. How he had barged into that room to discover Ren Parker, Kai's cousin cornering a frightened and terrified looking Bonnie, threatening to kill her with his machete.

Then when he had killed Ren he saw Bonnie covered in blood, learned how Kai had violently attacked her and tried to force himself on her against her will. Again he wished how he could have killed Kai and make him die a slow, tortured fill death for hurting her in this way. Even while he was glad,proud that she was the one who eventually ended Kai Parker's life and put a end to his terror on her along with it. He wished with all of his might that Kai was burning in the deepest depths of hell right now.

He would always hold a grudge against the Parker family for how they threatened the lives of both him and her, how they attempted to tear them apart and take her away from him. And what a severe price they had paid for dare believing they could cross the line with Bonnie for their sick and disgusting cult like plans.

He made them all pay the price when he had killed countless Parkers, so many that he couldn't could on all of his fingers and toes put together. He would easily kill countless amounts of their enemies again to keep her safe and in his life. He knew she would without hesitation do the same for him.

Bonnie saw how the smile had dropped from his face, how his expression suddenly changed to a troubled, angered one. Saw it was because his eyes had went to her arm where the bruise was. She had for a moment forgotten about the bruise or more so because her mind and feelings were so caught up in kissing him and preparing to make love with him, so her mind had been put off of it for the time being.

She knew all too well how it had appeared on her arm, but didn't want to think about it, she didn't want him to think about it either. Since seeing that troubled look on his face shook her to her core.

"Damon." Bonnie softly whispered placing her hand on his cheek.

"Yeah?" Damon tore his eyes away from her arm, back towards her face.

"It's going to be fine, we're going to be fine." Bonnie told him to smooth and comfort his worries away.

Damon remembered her words earlier about how this moment was suppose to be about them two focusing on each other, nothing else. "I know we are, Bonnie."

Bonnie nodded.

"Just focus what we have in front of us. Nothing, no one else." Damon whispered.

"Exactly." Bonnie mumbled.

Brushing his fingers tenderly over her bruised arm, he touched his forehead to hers, she closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his. The two stood there for a half minute with touching foreheads as they cherished the moment.

Then Damon pulled away his forehead from hers to replace it with his lips.

His forehead kiss made her feel a mixture of things, mainly ardor and endearment.

With great intimacy he moved to kissing her closed eyelids, to kissing both sides of her cheeks, then planting a kiss on her lips.

Bonnie returned his kiss with equal intimacy.

With their lips still locked on each other's, together they moved towards the large bed until the back of Bonnie's legs hit the edge of the bed. Then Damon break apart the kiss to gently push her onto the bed.

Once her back hit the surface of the bed with silence, she quickly adjusted her position on the bed. Maneuvering until her head was towards the top of the bed and her feet pointing towards the bottom of the bed.

Then Damon joined her, climbing onto the bed, he crawled over her until he was hovering above her. Looking down at her as the just past shoulder length hair, with it's dark tresses fanned over the pillow of the bed.

She laid there looking up at him, admiring the way the firelight casted shadows over his face and body. Reaching up brushing her hands over his broad shoulders, over his biceps which she loved so much.

Her touch sent electricity coursing through his whole body.

He looked down at her trying to figure out where he should start off since there was a number of sexual options he wished to do to her.

Bonnie wanted to do a great deal of sexual things with him too, as she kept running her hands over his shoulders and arms, enjoying the feelings of his warm, firm flesh under her hands.

Damon was usually the type of man who would get down to business, a 'wham bam thank you mam' type, where he would instantly pushed himself inside of a woman to get his needs met, along his his release as soon as possible.

He wasn't the cuddling type or the time to linger around, however this was Bonnie Bennett and Bonnie Bennett meant far more to him than any woman he had met before in his life. His stiffened, hardened dick was begging to be buried inside of her wet walls. But, he would hold off on doing that for a little while longer.

Because it was her first time, because she was special, because he was in love with her, because he _wanted_ to, Damon decided to do some foreplay before the grand finale. Foreplay because he desired it, but also because he wanted to get her as wet as possible to make the first time he entered her as pleasureable and comfortabe as possible.

He remembered the times before, with the women before how often he had quickies or rushed so much that the sex had been over with in minutes. Not that there was something wrong with quickies because there wasn't, but for her first time and his very first time with her he didn't want to rush it.

It was only in the middle of the day and they had all day to make love if they wanted to. So for now at least he would take his time.

She kept watching him, expectantly and eagerly waiting for him to make his next move.

Once he delved over it for a few seconds more he had decided the first move he would make in his foreplay towards her. Lowering his head Damon moved his lips over her shoulders and peppered kisses over her collar bone.

Bonnie sighed as his lips grazed against her skin, she sighed in content fullness, peacefulness, and joy.

Damon moved the attention of his lips from her collarbone to her neck.

Tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.

He licked at the vein which was in her neck, before sucking on it ever so lightly.

She let out a small verbal sound to let him know how she was enjoying his lips on her neck.

So, Damon kept lightly sucking near the vein.

In response she moved her hands over his bare pecs, then down a little until she felt his nipples, taking her fingernails she rubbed them across his nipples in one quick, sharp movement.

The feeling of her nails going across his nipples caught him off guard for a second, caused him to hiss out to let her know that he enjoyed it.

Encouraging by his reaction Bonnie did it again a bit rougher but still not rough enough to hurt. Just enough to make him enjoy it and get pleasure from it.

In which he very much did as he had let out another hiss.

She did it for a third time.

Lifting his head from her neck he narrowed his eyes at her as if telling her she was being quite naughty.

Bonnie just gave him a wicked grin in response.

If that's the game she wanted to play then two could play at such a game, he thought to himself with a mischievous smirk. Then he proceeded to kiss her on her neck again, this time he trailed his kisses from her neck downward over her chest.

Causing her to squirm underneath off him.

His smirk widened into a grin as he felt her steady heartbeat under his lips, he continued his trail of kisses down to her breasts, then moved to using his mouth on the tits that he already loved so much. He planted open mouthed warm kisses all over the fleshy, round parts of her breasts.

Feeling her body really began to respond to his ministrations and his mouth, she started to breath a little heavier.

Damon planted these open mouthed kisses on one breast and then the other before switching back to the one his mouth first was on. Advancing further he moved his lips over her dusky nipple, stroking it with his tongue.

Bonnie let out a soft moan as he body really was heating up.

Hearing her soft moan made him feel emboldened to go on, her body was already reacted to him and what he was doing to her and he was just in his first parts of their foreplay. Damon licked the nipple a couple of times before taking it into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the tiny hardened pebble, then sucked.

Her soft moan turned less softer, a little louder as she placed her hand behind his neck, pushing his mouth closer to her breasts.

Causing more of her nipple along with more of the fleshy part of that surrounded it to go deeper into his mouth. Damon wasn't complaining at all as he rather enjoyed sucking on her tits. Proven by how he was moaning himself as he happily sucked away.

Deciding that the other breast needed attention, Damon moved his mouth over to the other one and did the exact same thing he had done with the first. He did this back and forth, taking turns on having each nipple into his mouth. Kept doing it until both of her nipples were coated in his saliva.

After a few prolonged minutes of him doing this with her nipples, Bonnie found herself nearly going mad with pleasure. Each time he had put his mouth on them, it caused a jolt of heat to go right down to the very core of her vagina. Leaving her breathing heavily, hotly moaning as her hips subsciously rotated to the pleasing feeling she felt between her legs.

Once again the musk of her arousal from the center of her heated core found its way to his nostrils, making him groan out in need and the urge to bury his hardened length inside of her. Yet, he still decided to hold that part off for a little later.

Her scent also made his need strong to touch her down there, if she thought that she was moist now, then he couldn't wait to show her how moist he could make her. So, he trailed his hand down her sides, scaling them lightly over her ribcage before going lower. Then lower still when he moved his fingers over her hips.

Bonnie took in a deep breath, blew it out as everywhere he touched her seemed to light her body on fire with pleasures.

Keeping his eyes trained on her face he kept up the journey of his fingers and the destination that he wanted them to reach. Over her outer thigh, to her inner thigh, inching towards her treasure.

She licked her lips as her body shook slightly in anticipation as she felt his hand get closer and closer to the hot moistness of her.

Trailing his hand to where they both wanted it the most, he cupped his hand over her entire sex pressing down slightly.

Causing her to gasp out.

Then he proceeded to sink a finger inside of those folds. His stiffened dick twitched as her hot,saturated walls instantly surrounded his finger. "Bonnie." He gruffed with lust. "You're so wet for me, practically dripping."

"Damon." Bonnie let out a low whimper as he moved his finger inside of her.

"Won't be the last time you call my name." Damon winked at her.

She would have rolled her eyes at his arrogance, but she was too focused on how finger felt so good inside of her and she hoped, knew it wouldn't be the last time she said his name during this first time of them together.

"I'm going to make this amazing for the both of us." Damon added.

"Please do." Bonnie sighed.

So, he added a second digit along with his first one and now he was delightfully finger fucking her with two fingers.

Bonnie was breathing heavily once again as he moved his fingers in and out of her, her moans getting louder and louder.

Soon he had a good rhythm going switching between slow and fast as he searched for that special spot of hers. He noticed she seemed to grow wetter and wetter everytime his fingers sunk inward.

Bonnie jerked her hips to the movement of his digits, as she felt that delicious pressure built up in her belly.

It wasn't much longer when her clit peaked out from it's hood. Seeing it do so brought a sparkle of hunger to enter into his eyes. He wasted no time, pressing his thumb over her clit then circling his thumb over it over and over again. As he still kept up the pace of his digits in and out of her.

Before she knew what was happening next she was crying out as she had an explosive release around his fingers.

She had pleasured herself sometimes in the years before with self mastrabation. And had brought herself to some good and even decent releases. Yet, none of those was as anywhere close to the amazing sexual release that Damon Salvatore had just given to her.

"Wow." Was the best thing that her sex induced mind could get her to say at the time.

"The first of many orgasms that I give you." Damon let her know in his husky, sex heavy voice.

"I'll hold you to that." Bonnie told her after letting out a breath.

Pulling his two fingers out of her he locked eyes with her as he put them into his mouth.

The sight of him tasting her on his fingers was such a sexy turn on to her that it caused her to swallow twice.

Closing his eyes he made a sound in his throat as if he had just tasted the finest meal that was ever cooked. Taking his time to savor the flavor of her on his fingers, before opening his eyes to reveal to her in a matter of fact manner.

"Bonnie, you taste of the gods. Like the perfect mixture of ambrosia, honey, with just a hint of spice."

A blush bloomed onto her features. She had never had a man describe to her how her sex had tasted. It gave her the urge to giggle and jump his bones to ride him until he was left breathless and screaming her name.

"Can I please _taste_ you again huh, Bonnie?" He questioned with need.

Bonnie gave him a firm nod of permission along with a wordless, yet powerful 'yes' with her emerald green eyes.

"Fantastic, I guarantee what I'm about to do will be wonderful for the _both_ of us." Damon stated boldly.

She figured he was going to fuck her with his digits again and then sample her on his fingers as he had before.

Yet, Damon had a different idea of how he could taste her and gave her another orgasm at the same time. After all this moment was about drawing out the foreplay for as long as he could. So, he progressed when his intentions and desires. He gave a quick peck to both of her breasts before he moved his lips downward.

Her eyes widened briefly as she was taken aback on what he was about to do. He was about to give her some oral sex, it made her virgin mind spin. Yet, she quickly recovered as she was eager to feel his mouth down there.

Pausing Damon ran his bearded cheek, affectionate and loving across her flatten belly.

Bonnie couldn't help but to giggle at the way that the soft hairs of his beard tickles her abdomen.

He went further down still, parting her legs just wide enough to have his head fit between them.

Upon feeling his ears touch both sides of her inner thigh, she found herself tensing up her body in the positive way.

"Relax." Damon nicely instructed.

She did what he told her to do and relax her body.

Leaning in until his nose was nearly to her vagina, he took a deep sniff, letting out an extended moan of appreciation, she smelled as good as she had tasted.

Curiosity got the best of her as she lifted her head to look down her body to where she spotted the top of his head between her thighs. And thought it was one of the most pleasing sights she ever laid her eyes on.

Sticking his tongue out to do a taste test of her. He licked along her entire pussy from bottom to top.

Immediately Bonnie twitched her pelvis in response.

Then Damon went all in, covering her entire pussy with his mouth he went to work on her. Putting his tounge inside of her folds, in her as deep as it could go before swirling it around, hitting the inside of both of her walls.

Her head fell back on the pillow at the amazing sensation. "Oh God."

"Hmmmm." He hummed at the delicious flavor of her which he was already addicted to. He devoured her like a man who hadn't eaten in weeks, making sure to get every inch of her with his tongue. Alternating between licking her on the inside, sucking on her lips, and nibbling at her labia.

Above him Bonnie was in total bliss and ecstasy. As she called out to him with thunderous vocal noises. Signaling to him how much exactly he was pleasuring her, as he pussy tingled with a feeling so sensual that words couldn't describe. She thrashed her head back and forth on the pillow.

Continuing to eat away he switch it up when he removed his mouth from her folds and placed two fingers inside of her again. He swirled his oral orifice around her clit, before taking the swollen bud into his mouth and drawing it deeply into his mouth. While he moved his fingers in and out of her in a rapid pace.

Gyrating her hips and pussy on his face, she keep expressing herself vocally as she reached down tangling her fingers into his thick, soft black hair. Her hips lifted themselves off of the bed.

He held them down with one hand as the other kept on working her, he blew on her clit before taking it into his mouth again.

That was all it took for Bonnie. "Shit, Damon I think I'm going to…." before she could finish her sentence she came hard in a orgasm which was bigger than the first. Letting out a long strangled cry as she did so.

Quickly he removed his fingers from her, again replacing his mouth over the whole of her to catch her juices. He made sure to drink every last drop. Taking all of the remains into his mouth.

Her body shook slightly as she attempted to get a hold of herself before they moved on to the next part of their love making.

Damon was very satisfied that he had made her cum into his mouth. Yet, his body still craved to have her walls surround his cock. "Absolutely delicious, good to the last drop." He licked his lips.

Despite the fact that she had came two times in a short period of time, Bonnie found herself, her body aching to have more of him. So, she said to him breathlessly. "Damon, I need you."

"Need me for what exactly?" He teased her by tracing his thumb over her hip.

"I _need_ you inside of me." She desperately confessed.

Within a blink of an eye he surged back up her body, until he was hovered with his face above hers. Looking down at her with lust, need, love all rolled into one.

Looking up at him she returned his gaze with the intensity of a thousand suns. Noticed his chin was wet with her juices. Found something very pleasing about it.

Leaning down he pressed his lips against hers for another kiss.

When she returned the kiss she could taste herself on his lips, again there was something very pleasing about it.

He broke the kiss a second later, when they eyed each other in the eyes they knew that there was no turning back. Neither of them wanted to. Both needing and wanting very badly for this to happen.

Carefully, Damon positioned his hips between her thighs. He grabbed his hardened length with one hand, rubbed the head of it against her folds causing them to each shudder at first contact. Slowly he began to push the tip of his hardness inside of her. And just the tip was met with such heat and moistness from her that he had to grit his teeth to hold back and avoid himself from cumming before he could even get fully inside of her.

Once he figured that he had enough willpower to go on, he did so pushing himself further and further in inch by inch.

She braced herself as she felt her walls stretch by his massive size. Tried to prepare her body for him entering her.

He kept inching little by little making sure that he wasn't hurting her.

Her body went half way taut as it adjusted to him accessing her.

"Are you okay?" He stopped to ask as he wasn't even completely inside of her just yet.

While it took some getting used to having an object so large making its way into her, it wasn't at all painful. She was wet enough to make his entrance into her quite pleasant. So she answered. "I am."

Getting her okay he kept pushing his dick deeper and deeper into her. It didn't take long before he had completely entered into her balls deep.

Bonnie relaxed her body as she felt his enter length, it felt nice, it felt _very nice._

Damon didn't move just yet, he wanted to give her body enough time to adjust to him. After a minute he questioned her. "Are you sure this is fine, I'm not hurting you am I."

"This is fine, it is more than fine." Bonnie let him know.

"Really?" Damon perplexed.

"Really." Bonnie assured him.

"Because if it isn't I could stop." Damon said to her being serious, her feelings and comfort came before his sexual needs.

She looked him in his eyes with a determined expression. "Don't you dare stop."

He opened his mouth again as to ask her if she was alright with their current position and him proceeding further in with the sex.

Grabbing his face with both of her hands Bonnie commented. "Damon, I love you for being so generous to me, but if you don't move and fuck me right now then I think I'm going to go mad."

Damon chuckled. "Alright, Alright." Now since he had her confirmation that she was just fine and that he wasn't hurting her in anyway, he allowed himself to fully embrace, enjoy how she felt around him. Her tight, heated walls had clutched around him instantly. And she was so moist that it felt like he had his dick in some warm, deep ocean. He twitched inside of her because she just felt that damn ground.

"Fuck, Bonnie you feel sensational so wet and tight." Damon groaned in a manly way.

"How does this feel then." Bonnie experimentally squeezed the inner walls of her pussy around his stiffened dick.

This caused Damon to go into a pleasure induced trance, as he was the one to believe he was about to go mad from it. "Even better."

With a slight curve of her lips, she squeezed herself around him again.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy with that move." He growled.

"Yep." She replied without hesitation.

"I've been waiting for forever to get to do this with you." Damon told her with desire behind his words.

Bonnie just eyed with with want and lust wishing he would hurry up and move inside of her.

Finally after all of the foreplay, he was now buried deep in the depths of her sex like he wanted to be. He pulled all the way out before snapping his hips forward to be buried balls deep in her once more.

This caused her to release a low scream from inside of her throat.

Then he started to do what the both of them was waiting for him to do. He started to move in and out of her at a slow, steady pace at first. Keeping his thrusts soft and calm.

Moaning she wrapped her legs around his waist.

As he felt an unspeakable amount of pleasure in his groin area, his breathing grew heavier so he picked up the pace of his thrusts.

She easily moved with him never missing a beat.

At a steady pace he picked up his thrusts more and more. They became harder, faster, and deeper. And by the time that they were a good while into him thrusting into her, the intensity of their fucking and love making had picked up ten notches.

She had her fingernails dug into the upper part of us back and her legs wrapped tightly around him. She was mewling, whimpering, and moaning out his name. As she lifted her hips off of the bed to meet him thrust for thrust.

Damon Salvatore was in total heaven and bliss. The more he rammed into her the wetter she seemed to be. Her juices kept spilling over his cock, keeping it moist, making it easier to fuck her as much as he wanted to. Curses of the sexual nature escaped from his lips. He could already tell that she was going to be the best sex he ever had.

For a while the house and the room they were in was filled with the sounds of the two of them expressing themselves verbally to the other. Each filling the room with moans, cries, and yells of ecstasy.

The sounds of their flesh smacking together also echoed throughout the room. Still Bonnie felt that marvelous pressure built up in her belly once more. And Damon could feel the certain tingling in his groin and balls. Bonnie could tell that she was close, knew he was close too. To get them to come together, she grabbed the back of his neck and pushed his head down until his ear was next to her mouth.

Just as she came she told him, "I love you" hotly into his ear before taking his earlobe between her teeth, That was what sent Damon over the edge, he grunted out her name as he hot seeded cum shot inside of her. She let out a long whimper as her walls clenched tightly around him. Her cum flooding over his cock as they orgasmed together.

For minutes they stayed like this, with him on top of her still inside of her, as they tried to catch their breaths for a moment they said nothing. Then when Damon shifted in her a surprising realization came to her. He was _still_ hard and stiff inside of her despite the fact that he had just released his seed.

Her mouth shaped into the 'O' form as she looked at him.

It dawned on him as well, he was already in strong need to go another round with her. "Not done with you just yet."

She was about to open her mouth to respond, but was on such a sex high the proper words couldn't form. She just knew that she still craved him and his body, as her eyes were heavily lidded with lust. The craving for him grew when he reached down stroking her clit.

"Are you done with me just yet, Bon-Bon?" Damon asked with dizzying circles over her clit with his thumb.

"Not just yet." Bonnie answered feeling herself getting aroused and wet once again.

"Say it again." Damon pressed hard against her clit.

"More, I want more, I _need_ more." Bonnie demanded on a cry.

Just like that he pulled out of her.

She blinked at the sudden feeling of him not having him inside of her.

Eyeing her intensely, Damon commanded. "Lie on your side."

Eagerly she did what he commanded of her and laid on her side.

Following right behind her, he laid on his side as well so that her back was facing the front of his body, scooting himself over until they were in the spooning position, he placed one hand on her first. He entered into her from that position.

The two of them let out a sigh of being connected to each other once again.

Then Damon began thrusting into her again, fastly picking up the pace. The angle was different than when he had thrusted into her before, yet it felt just as amazing to her. Moans and mewls soon were slipping through her lips again.

They moved together with him pounding himself to the hilt from behind her. He grunted and gasped into her neck as he was so deep in her that he balls connected to her flesh with each inward thrusts.

Soon she was a trembling mess in his arms as he kept pounding, thrusting into her. The vocalized noises she made came out in rambling gibberish.

With one hand he covered her breast with it, tweaking her nipple between his finger and thumb, with the other he covered the front part of her vagina.

She was panting now, as she arched back against him, could feel herself getting close once again.

He leaned in whispering into her ear with half dirty talk about how could her pussy felt around his cock and half words of love on how in love with her he was.

"Yes, Yes, Yes." Bonnie called out.

"That's it, cum for me one more time, Bonnie. Cum for me _now_!" Damon's voice was strained with a man about to lose control.

"Damon!" Bonnie screamed as she had a glorious release around him, coming for the fourth time since their sexual encounter had began.

He let out a hoarse cry as he came for what was his second release since their sexual encounter had began. He cum flew out of his length like water out of a hose, directly into her. He did a few more smaller jerks of his hips as her convulsing walls milked him for all that he was worth.

He slipped out of her, then both of them collapsing onto their backs overwhelmed and spent by their first time together.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Hello again, As I said before in my Author's note. I actually started to work on this chapter months ago. It's just that I did not get around to finishing it until now. Because I started to write this update before thinking up the small adjustments and tweaks I wanted to make to this story. Those adjustments and tweaks will start to take place from the next chapter and the rest of the chapters from there. If you haven't read my Author's note yet I posted it before I updated this chapter. You can read it if you like to since there are some important things I feel like needed to be addressed before this story goes forward.**

 **Sorry, for keeping you waiting so long for this update. I hope that this long chapter and the love update makes up for it some. I hope that taking my time to write out this love scene makes it worth the wait!**

 **Also I will try to be better at not making so many spelling or grammar errors, I'll proofread more before I post my chapters from now on. Thanks to all who are still supporting, reading and reviewing this story. Please leave feedback if you can.**


	16. Chapter 16

Following the afterglow of their lovemaking the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms. The combination of staying up all night the night before and making intense love for their first time causing sleep to finally envelope the both of them.

The steady rain which was still falling down hard outside, having yet to show signs that it would stop, combined with the crackling of the fireplace smoothed the pair of them into a deep sleep. It was a good, well rested sleep for them both, as wonderful dreams filled their heads. They slept cuddled up against the warmth of each other's bodies for about three and a half hours.

Once the three and a half hours had passed by, Damon found himself waking up. Suddenly his blue eyes fluttered open, as his eyes scanned over the bedroom they had made love in, then fell to sleep in. The orange glow of the fireplace continued to bounce against the room.

Feeling the warm, soft body of the one Bonnie Bennett pressed against his, his eyes shifted down to her face. She looked beautiful, peaceful, and relaxed in her sleep. With just a hint of the afterglow of their lovemaking from a few hours ago still left in her face. He brushed her hair out of her face to admire the woman he was completely in love with, just grateful to have her with him in such a desolate world.

After studying her face for a minute more, his eyes shifted back over to the fireplace, where he noticed the flames going down slightly. This was a sign that the fire needed more wood to keep it going at a steady pace, otherwise if it wasn't attended to then it would go out by itself in a couple of hours or so. Knowing he needed to take care of the fire, he placed a kiss on Bonnie's forehead. She shifted slightly against him but did not wake.

Sliding out of the bed he walked over to the fireplace, noticed there was no wood next to it, as he had left all of the wood in the wood storage bin downstairs. Without even bothering to put in clothes, he went down naked, gathered up a few pieces of thick wood in his arms, after checking on the downstairs fireplaces to make sure they were still going well. He carried the arm full of wood back up the stairs.

Once he was back up them, he took the wood into the master bedroom. Looking over at the bed, he could see that she was still fast asleep. Taking the wood over to the bedroom's fireplace, he placed two pieces in the smaller storage bin, while putting the other pieces he had gotten into the fire place. Grabbing the fire poker he prodded at the wood, until it was lit on fire, and kept prodding until the flames of the fire was back to the level needed to keep it going for hours more.

And that was how Bonnie woke up, she opened her eyes to see Damon not in the bed next to her, she was about to call out to him, but quickly spotted him across the bedroom, he had his back to her and he was still naked. She could see his nude form in the silhouette the fireplace casted and what a nude form it was.

"Wow, I talk about waking up to a beautiful sight." She called out from the bed.

Hearing the sound of her voice he turned around facing her, seeing her delightfully eyeing him from the bed. "Hello, there!"

She smiled brightly. "Hello, there!"

He placed the fire poker over to the side approached the bed.

Bonnie eyed his naked body up and down as he did so.

"Speaking of beautiful sights to wake up to." Damon kneeled next to the edge of the bed. "I woke up to one when I saw you sleeping still."

The Bennett woman scotted over to the edge of the bed, without getting out of the bed so she could get closer to her man. She ran her fingers through his thick mane of hair.

"How are you feeling?" He pondered as he enjoyed her fingers through his hair.

"Fine, more than fine, I'm feeling good right now." Was her reply.

"Did you sleep well?" He noticed the fire light deflecting off of her green orbs.

"I'm slept wonderfully! Feel very refreshed, my body feels renewed because of the sleep." Bonnie directed. "What about you how did you sleep?"

Damon answered. "I feel well rested, even though we didn't sleep a full eight hours after not getting any sleep last night."

Bonnie's lips curved. "Perhaps the excellent sex we had before falling asleep had something to do with our bodies rejuvenating."

Damon smirked. "Perhaps!"

"I'm hungry." She moved her hand to his beard which she had grown to love on him. A part of her never wanted him to shave it off.

"Oh? Is there any way I could help you with that hunger?" A certain glint came into his blue eyes.

"Not that type of hungry."

"Oh then, so you mean hungry for food?"

She laughed. "Yes, I mean hungry for food."

He recalled. "Right, you haven't had anything to eat in a while."

She confirmed. "Not since yesterday morning because of the circumstances, however between it being a while since I last ate and getting a few hours of sleep in my appetite has came roaring back. Now, I'm rather famished."

"Since you've mentioned it, been a while since I last ate as well, I'm famished as well." Damon muttered.

"So, then I guess we should eat something" Bonnie moved to a sitting position. "What food did you find by the way."

"Ruffled through, found some ramen noodles, some rice, and chicken broth." He let her know.

"Sounds good, I could eat about anything right now." Said Bonnie.

Resting his hand on her calf he commented. "We'll fix some of the noodles and rice over the fireplaces downstairs. There's several pans down there we could use."

The green eyed woman stood to her feet and stretched. "Sounds like a plan."

Because he was still kneeling, her standing gave him an good eye level view of her ass and pussy.

Strolling over to where her clothes laid in a pile, she picked up her panties.

The raven haired man had yet to move from his position, just taking in the view of how the fire light danced off of her naked skin.

"Are you coming?" She questioned as she slipped on her panties.

"Yes, give me a minute I'll join you." Damon told her with a half smile.

"Alright." Bonnie pulled on the rest of her clothes. Then walked towards the bedroom door. Pausing she looked back towards him, blowing him a kiss before exiting out of the room.

Capturing the invisible kiss with his hand, as huge grin forming on his bearded face. Then he proceeded to stand to his full height, he got dressed and joined his woman downstairs.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Twenty minutes later the pair of them were sitting down at a table that was downstairs, they moved the table in front of the fireplace which was in the den area of the house not far from the kitchen. Since Damon thought it would be a nice idea if they had their meal in front of the fireplace. They had successfully used innovative ideas to fix the ramen noodles and the rice over the fire in some pots. They fixed three packs of ramen noodles and a cup of rice in half chicken broth and half water. Since it had been since yesterday morning since either of them last ate. They shared the noodles and rice in equal portions. With them both having one and a half pack of the noodles, plus a half of cup of rice each. Saving the remainder of the rice and noodles they didn't fix for the next day.

Bonnie had lite a candle and put it in the middle of the table for them to have a candle light meal together, figuring it was a nice romantic touch. Along with their noodles and rice they had some bottled water to drink which they had conserved some water in.

It was very apparent how hungry Bonnie was and that she hadn't eaten in awhile by how she was enthusiastically wolfing down her food. Damon paused the spoonful of rice in a soup of chicken broth to look at her with amusement.

She was slurping up her noodles with she noticed how he was looking at her.

"What?" She went after swallowing another forkful of noodles.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that you were hungry." Damon said to her.

"Yeah, like I said it's been a while since I last ate." Bonnie told him.

"Hmmm, I guess that plus the energy you and I took up having amazing sex earlier will work up an appetite in a person." Damon wiggled his eyebrows.

This time it was her turn to be amused. "You are certainly correct about that!"

Bringing the spoonful of rice to his mouth he ate it. "So, how's the food so far?"

Bonnie sampled some of the rice, broth mixture. "Delicious, maybe it has something to do with me starving, but delicious nonetheless."

The blue eyed man agreed. "Yeah, it is pretty tasty."

"You know this stuff used to a college staple back before for world went to shit."

"What stuff? The rice?"

"The ramen noodles." She corrected.

He eyed her from across the table with curiosity. "Interesting, wonder why ramen noodles were a staple for people who went to college back then."

She spoke. "Well from how my dad explained it to me, ramen noodles were a staple for those who attended college, in particular young adults from the ages of nineteen to their early twenties. See not many young college goers had a job or a job which paid really well between the classes they had to attend. So, ramen noodles were cheap and didn't cost a lot of money. Hence why it was a college staple."

Damon was always interested and amazed to know whenever she told him about the old world from her father's perspective. Because it gave them an idea of what the world was like before the apocalypse.

"Really?" He leaned forward over the table wanting to know more.

"Um hmmm." She went on after eating another forkful of noodles. "My dad said they would cost only a handful of cents per pack, so he could get enough ramen noodles to last him a couple of weeks just with five or ten bucks."

"Lucky college kids to get all of that food for cheap." Damon commented as he slurped a noodle into his mouth.

She knew what he meant. In a current world where food was so sparse, it was hard for those like her and Damon to imagine a world where food used to be so abundant to so many people. Yet, her dad use to live in a world where he could just drive to a supermarket or a restaurant if he wanted something to eat. People weren't so fortunate in today's world.

Bonnie added. "From what he told me, he would get different flavors or jazz it up so he wouldn't get bored with eating the same thing over and over again. But, when he got out of college he ditched the noodles and stopped eating them all together."

Damon pondered. "Why would he do that? These things taste great."

"He became health conscious."

He gave her a look of confusion at this explanation.

"Um, ramen noodles have a lot of sodium so it wasn't good for a person's blood pressure? Anyway he got a job in the field he graduated from, therefore he didn't need to just rely on cheap foods and was able to buy more expensive healthier foods."

"Can't imagine turning down edible food for health reasons or any reason. Some of the old world practices sure are strange." Damon stated.

"Perplexing for sure how they would do things in certain ways back then." Bonnie muttered. "I thought much the same a you did as far as turning down food goes, when my dad told me about it. Then again you have to remember how different the old world is from our world today. They practically had supermarkets and grocery stores filled wall to wall with an abundance of food to choose from. They didn't have to scrap to find every bit of food like we do."

Damon nodded. "True, if we're lucky sometimes we can find food like this by rummaging through buildings or house here and there. But, then there are often times where food is few and far between places. Where days, even weeks pass by without finding anything. Otherwise we have to get our food source from hunting, fishing or finding wild plants. Can't afford to be a picky eater in this world."

Bonnie agreed. "Beggars can't be choosers. Not saying people had it easy back in my Dad's younger days. But, far easier access to find than we did."

He ate yet more noodles. "Maybe our final destination will have an abundance of food like the old world used to."

"You mean Anex." Bonnie spoke of the settlement they were trying to reach in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

"Exactly, if this place is truly what it is hyped up to be then we'll never have to fight tooth and nail for our next source of food once we get there."

"That would be something else, Never have I gone for a prolonged period of time without worrying whether or not I was going to go hungry or starve once my current food source ran out."

"And do you figure this place in Virginia is the answer to all of our prayers?"

Reaching for her bottle of water she replied. "I go back and forth at times. A lot of the times I'm optimistic in believing Anex is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for us. If this place it real it will be the end of our struggling to survive from day to day once we reach it."

"...Then at times I have doubts due to how bleak this world is. Figuring in a world like this one Anex just makes for too much light in a world of darkness and that this settlement isn't real after all."

Drinking some of his own water Damon admitted. "I have felt the same way at times. Going back and forth between being optimistic that this settlement, this promising settlement really exists. Then I have moments of doubts during some of the darkness periods on this planet. However, when doubts did come to my mind there is something I have done to raise my hope backup since I discovered the potential of such an oasis of a community."

Bonnie was the curious one now. "And that would be?"

"I'll show you in just a minute." He got up from the table and walked out of the room.

She stayed seated at the table, eating her rice waiting on what he had to show her.

A half of minute later he came back into the room and sat down at the table. "Whenever there were doubts I would listen to this."

"The tape recording." Bonnie noticed the old hand held tape player he had been carrying around in his duffle bag. He had carried it with him even before he had met her. That tape recording was the reason, at least part of the reason why the two of them had made the long track across country from the West coast to the East coast. After six months of traveling the majority time on foot, they still had a ways to go.

"The tape recording." Damon repeated holding it in his hands. "I discovered this, along with the map which pointed to this Anex salvation settlement. When I first heard it, I didn't even believe my ears. Thought it was too good to be true."

She couldn't blame him for doubting the authenticity of the tape. Just because dim and harsh the world had been for thirty years. Which was so suffocating that the hope for air from the suffering seemed hopeless.

"I thought the guy was a few bricks short when I first listened to it. Yet, something made behold to this tape recording and the map anyway. Then I started to listen to it more and more when I was by myself and no one else around at the base camp. And I started to believe the man on the tape was actually telling the truth,"

"I had loathed my time with The New Dawn. I wanted out of that hell hole, but didn't know where I would go if I left there. Then this tape made me believe that this community in Virginia could be an virtual heaven. At least compared to the hell hole I was in. Took the last straw of seeing that horrific act of that family getting burned alive, for me to get out of there and decide to take the long journey to the east coast to see if this place existed." Damon finished.

Bonnie pointed out. "Which was very risky for you to do, leaving the New Dawn behind."

The two of them were now speaking of the brutal militia organization he used to belong to, which had its camp base in California. The New Dawn is what his poor excuse of a 'father figure' Alaric had named it when he founded it. Alaric was the leader, The New Dawn, therefore the group he ran had taken up his cold hearted and vicious acts of violence and murders against many of innocent people. Making them one of the most feared groups in this current brutal environment.

Damon had always loathed being in The New Dawn militia organization since childhood. He confessed to taking part in the killings of innocent people, because Alaric had abused him physically, emotionally, and mentally at a young age. And made him afraid that if he didn't follow orders, he would end up dead or back in that awful pit punishment which he feared.

So, Damon reluctantly did end up murdering innocent. Yet, the difference with him and many of the other members of the New Dawn who had been groomed to be vicious soldiers from child birth, therefore having no remorse and being proud of taking up the organizations ways, he was different. Different in how he had not been desensalitionized to the cold hearted violence like the others been. Each time he murdered an innocent people it ate him up with guilt inside and made it hard for him to sleep at night. When their practices got to be too heinous, too much, he ran away, escaping because he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Had to do what, I had to do, couldn't stand there another day. So, I ran and haven't look back since." Damon commented after a while.

"Well, I still consider you brave for being willing to leave. Sure, you did awful actions in your past which I don't condone, but the torment and torture Alaric put you through contributes to that, so I put the blame on him for what he made you do. As I said it was brave for you to get away from there, knowing the punishment for a member who deserts the militia is a brutal one." Bonnie commented.

"Death by execution, that's the punishment for any member caught attempting desertion of The New Dawn." Damon shook his head.

"Yeah, I mean how many men choose to stay with that group mainly on the basis of self preservation combined with having no remorse. So, they'll stay their whole lives not caring about who they hurt or kill, as long as they remain alive. You could have chosen to stay there for the remainder of your life, you did not and you get away knowing the punishment." Bonnie gestured.

He continued eating some more rice. "Guess in a way, even if I known I would have gotten caught escaping. Me getting executed would have been better than me having to stay in such a hell hole. Part of me figured at least I wouldn't have to live the rest of my life stuck practicing their heinous ways purely for the benefit of Alaric."

"Thankfully, they never managed to catch you escaping or after you escaped there."

"Nope, they did not. I left the camp base at night, when it was down to a skeleton crew patrolling. Knew that there was a better chance of me getting out of there and since much of the base sleeps until daybreak, I knew I had hours up on them as an advantage to get as far away from there as I could. Before they woke up for the next morning handing out assignments and missions to all of the soldiers for that day. Don't know how exactly long it was before they could have discovered I was gone. Knew they would eventually find out I was missing from the camp."

"Then put two and two together knowing I went AWOL out of there. Alaric must have been especially angry when he discovered what happened. Knew he would send men after me to catch me once they all learned what happened. So, I took extra measures to ensure I had better chances of getting away without being dragged back to the base in what would have been an guaranteed punishment for deserting." Damon finished.

"Like disabling the vehicles." Bonnie recalled from how he had explained to her before the details of how he got out of The New Dawn's campbase.

He ran his fingers over the tape recorder. "Yes, as I told you a while ago I learned how to drive because the place I came from had access to cars and trucks. Sometimes we would go months without having working vehicles due to there being so many of them which had rusted out tires or engines. Or which were broken down to the point of being unfixable. But, because of the sheer number of men in our militia and the size of the New Dawn, we were able to luck out and occasionally find a few working vehicles at a time we could use. And they were used until they broke down or ran out of gas. "

"There is an old mechanic who is skilled at working on broken down cars, but he only could fix them if he had the correct auto parts which was few and far between, not only because of there being so many cars with rusted out engines. But, because so many of the auto part stores had long ago been ransacked, leaving little to no new car parts around. So, this again meant prolonged periods of time where the camp had no working cars or trucks. Often having to go on missions on foot. Around the time I escaped the New Dawn camp base, they did have about three working ones. Two pickup trucks and a sedan. I remember you asking me one time why I wouldn't have just driven one of the trucks or car off to escape there." Damon stated.

She commented. "Right, I was wondering, since I figured escaping in a car would have gotten you out of there much faster than going on foot did. And the answer you gave made sense after you explained it to me."

Damon mentioned. "When I was going over the plans in my head on how to escape, getting into one of those vehicles and just flooring it out of there as fast as I could did come to mind. Then the more I thought about it the more riskier it sounded. If I started one of those trucks or that sedan, the engine would have made a lot of noise. For sure drawing more attention to my escape attempts, heighten the risk of me getting caught before I could even reach the gate."

Bonnie put in. "More silent for you to go foot, drawing less noise and taking less of an risk in getting caught. Turns out you made a smart decision there, this adding you to disabling that car and those trucks aided in your assist."

Said Damon. "Going with the stealthy method of escaping on foot definitely aided in helping me get out. As for the vehicles I disabled, I knew that they would have the advantage of tracking me down faster if they came after me in them. Another reason why I decided not to use the trucks or car to get away, was because the keys to the working vehicles were always kept in the command center. Which always had a guard or two manning it no matter what time of day it was."

"If someone wanted to drive, they had to go to the command center building to request a key and get the permission or go ahead to use of the vehicles. Since a working one was so rare to find, at times they were only used for top priority New Dawn missions which were some distance from the base. That time of night if I would have went to the command center to try and get a key, it definitely would have drawn suspicion in my direction, due to there not being any mission which require the use of them that time of night. They would have stopped me for questioning before I even got out of the command building."

"As I said, between you not wanting to make too much noise to bring attention to yourself and the keys being in an guarded building, it makes sense you decided to get away on foot." Bonnie told him.

He continued. "Before I left knowing they wouldn't be able to have the needed autoparts to fix broken down vehicles anytime soon, I snuck to them using the cover of darkness the night provided, waited until the skeleton crew took their patrol in another area. Then as quiet as I could, I popped the hood, proceeded to cut several important lines in the engine, disabled the batteries, poked some holes in some key parts needed to run the engines and finished it off by slashing the tires for good measure. I managed to do this to both of the trucks and the car within five minutes. The skeleton crew wouldn't be back in that area for another twenty five, by the time they came back around I was already out of there. And it was so dark they most likely didn't notice the damage until sometime during daybreak the next day. Again when I was already long gone from there."

She drunk down some more water. "Damon, I have to say you are a genius, not sure I would have thought about disabling the car and those trucks before I escape any sort of place like that."

"Why, thank you."

She gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

Damon pressed on. "For years I wanted to get out of the awful conditions of that damn militia group. Finding this tape recording was what gave be hope to do it, the hope of there being a place much better than the one I was currently at during the time. After listening to the tape multiple times, I became a believer, it and the man on the recording inspired me to head out to a long journey out east."

Bonnie stated. "Well, I'm certainly glad you found this recording, it lead you to me and now we have been on this journey towards the eastern United States for six months now."

"And it had been the best six month period in my entire life." Damon acknowledged with a smile.

She gave him a crooked smile in return.

He gulped down some water.

"Since you brought out the tape recorder why don't we listen to it right now, for inspiration." Bonnie suggested. "I haven't ever listened to the whole thing, just bits and pieces."

"Yeah, it is rather lengthy. At the base it took me some days to get through the whole thing. Just because I only get be alone there for specific times of the day or night." Damon pushed the tape recorder to the middle. He put the volume as high as it could go.

Pressing the play button he added. "Let's listen, for an inspiration boost."

Soon the sound coming from the speaker of the tape recording filled the room. At first there was nothing but soft static noise coming from it. The static noise lasted for about twenty seconds before clearing. Followed by some heavy raspy breathing. Then a voice, a man's voice rose from the speaker as he spoke.

" _Hello, to the finder of this tape recording….if any person manages to find this tape, then congratulations, you have just reached the jackpot. A jackpot in a world of shit."_

Started the man on the recording.

The two of them eyed each other in silence, not saying a word and letting the recording continue.

" _First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rodgers Ellias, I've come from a very farway. Currently I am in Nevada, next to the California border, but I'm from the state of Virginia. Since I'm sure you're wondering how I made my way from the East coast to here, using a car. Know what you're thinking, how can one have access to a car in this day and age, but trust me where I come from there's cars a plenty."_

" _Why did I travel so far you might ask? Well it's because I had the strongest ambitions to see parts of the West coast of the United States for my entire lifetime, wanted to just for one time to see what it was about. So, that's what I decided to do, get in a car and drive to the west coast. When I informed my close friends back at home what I was going to do, they didn't think it was a good idea. Marcel and Rebekah, they advised me against taking this trip. Saying it was far too dangerous for me to venture so far from the security in which home provided. Saying how I could risk running into some hunter bandits or cannibals that wanted to do me in or harm me."_

Rodgers stammered on through the tape recorder speakers. " _Me being the adventurous, overconfident guy I am insisted to them how I would be fine and how I could handle myself going out so far from home alone. Told him because I had my car and few gas cans to fill it with gas when I needed to, that I would be out on the west coast and back home within a couple of months."_

" _Turns out they were right afterall. I should have listened to them. But, you know what they say, hindsight is 20/20. My overconfidence did me in, It was a major mistake for me to leave there. And because of that mistake I'm on the way to dying. Except for it wasn't from hunter bandits neither is it from cannibals wanting to eat me. No, my life is a verge on ending because of a snake. A poisonous snake is the reason for why I won't be alive a very short time from now. In less than an hour I'll be dead for sure. Was so very stupid, stupid for me to go. Can't do anything about that now, so if I'm going to die then I might as well make good out of my death."_

The pair from them still said nothing as they continued to listen to the raspy voice along with the heavy breathing of the now deceased Rodgers Ellias.

" _The way the venom is spreading in my system now, I'll most likely croak in less than thirty minutes, so I'd better get to the point before that happens. Because I can't make it back to home in Virginia, I want you, whoever finds this recording to take my place. And this is why I say if you found this, then it's your lucky day. I'm assuming you're like the majority of the people who are left alive in this world. I'm sure like most of the people are this planet you're struggling to live or to survive day after day due to the conditions the earth has been in for the past thirty years."_

Rodgers went on. " _This means I'm sure you are having difficult times in finding something to eat when food is so hard to come by. Or having a hard time at getting consistent sources of clean water. Or fighting for your life or looking over your shoulder because you worry about someone coming along wanting to murder you for whatever few survival sources you might actually have on you. Or those sick ones who might even want to eat you…"_

The two of them exchanged a wordless gaze of communication. Knowing all too well about what it was like to run into the sick ones who 'want to eat you'. They had just went through the dreadful, terrifying experience of going up against the Parker Clan. A family of cannibals who had wanted to eat Damon for the latest meal and hold Bonnie false prisoner in their village, to have her be their version of Kai Parker's 'mate' in their sick and twisted way to ensure their family line lived on instead of dying out.

They had to fight tooth and nail for their lives, which left most of the family dead at their hands, including Kai. However, it dawned on them how not everyone was so fortunate to escape the cruel fate of becoming food for another human being. And that being hunted down by this who preferred the taste of human flesh was a heightened threat on this planet.

" _I'm here telling you now, if you listen to me, believe me and follow my instructions then you don't have to worry about any of this evermore. Because my home, where I came from have solved all of these problems in which many struggle today to survive. All problems you could come up with, my home has a solution to. Out here you have to look over your shoulder or always be on guard worried about a person or persons coming to end your life."_

" _It's different there. Different from everywhere else because this place is secure, as secure as Fort Knox was, has all of the pieces needed to properly defend itself from even the most dangerous and threatening forces out there. It has high walls of steel to keep out any and all unwanted dangers. Has a strong numbered police and guard force to fight and defend itself against any other threatening force which might have numbers on their side. And have enough guns and weaponry to arm itself against an army. So, in my home the people there don't have to ever worry about looking over their shoulders for danger and if you were there neither do you."_

Having just finished up their rice in chicken broth and ramen noodles, Damon and Bonnie kept focusing on the voice on the tape.

Rodgers rambled on. " _As for food….wow it might be hard for you to believe me, but there is enough food to feed thousands of people at a time. I'm talking about fields, upon fields, upon fields of farmland where acres, hundreds of acres of food is planted and grown. Fields that stretch out as far as the eye can see. Farmers who grow just about every vegetable you can think of. Whatever one that is currently in season, they grow it. Leaving enough produce as I said to feed thousands."_

" _Plus, there are also lands there dedicated to fruit trees which grow out enough fruit for many people to eat. But, that's not all when it comes to the food source. If you're a fan of meat we have that as well. Chickens, cows, and pigs make for fresh meat on the daily. There's also a building in which we can process or harvest our own food to fed many, many people in the winter months. My home has the water problem solved too."_

" _There's a large river, a body of water which runs through the place I lived. We use a plant to take water from that river and we bottle our own water. Clear,clean, fresh, safe water, producing enough water for each person who also lives there to have clean drinking water for years. And there is clean water for other uses to, I'm talking about clean running water where you can bathe or shower in. And this part I'm about to tell you might be the hardest for you to believe."_

Rodgers breathing grew more labored, both of the people listening to the tape imagined it was due to him getting bitten by a poisonous snake and therefore it had taken a toll on his respiratory system.

Still Rodgers kept pressing as if he was determined to get out his message before he died. " _There's something to top it all off, which most areas and parts in this world hasn't had in decades. And that's electricity, yes electricity. A group of engineers came together managing to create a source of electricity for all who live in my home. Because of this I have been able to live in a way that 99% of the world is unable to do and that's live under power. If you don't believe me, you could go check it out yourself to see I'm telling the truth, but I promise you that living in a place where you get current makes life much easier than living in places where there aren't."_

" _So. there you it, all of the biggest problems and struggles of surviving are checked off and fixed where I live. Are you convinced, hopeful that this safe haven I'm describing exists. Do you wish to go there? Well, if you are then here are the details you need to know. My home is a settlement in Southeastern Virginia, in Mystic Falls. This settlement is about the size of a large town. And it's surrounded by walls which go on for miles and miles, this wall surrounds all sides of the settlement town."_

Rodgers described in detail. " _You know how the Ancient Romans used to build walls around their cities? Well, it's like that expect for these are stronger walls, built ten stories high, made of solid steel along with reinforced concrete inches thick. No one, no threat can get through those walls uninvited. Because there's only one entrance into the settlement, which is guarded at all times of the day and night."_

" _Now if you're one of those assholes who wishes to harm, hurt, or threaten any of my people who live in this settlement. Don't even bother unless you are stupid and want to kill yourself. Because that is what attempting to break into the place pretty much would be for you, a suicide mission. They'll kill any threats before you could even get close to breaking in there."_

" _But, if you're a good person, of good will and an honest heart who just wants to survive. Then I encourage you to go there in my place. My settlement, my town is called Anex and it offers everything you can possibly dream of. If you have what it takes to make it there, then you'll live a happy life for the rest of your life, just like I have lived a happy life while I was there."_

" _This place has an population close to ten thousands and growing a little more each day with new arrivals, you could be an new arrival. And if you go there, my people will accept you with open arms. So, to lead you to the way, attached to this tape recorder I have provided you a map of Virginia. And on it I have circled where Anex is located. Get there like your life depends on it."_

Rodgers breathing grew more heavy and labored. They could tell that the poison was really spreading through his system at this point of the recording.

" _When you get there, show my people this map, show them this recording and tell them that Rodgers Ellias sent you. Please, don't let my death be in vain, please take it upon yourself to seize this opportunity I have given to you. Get to Virginia, get to Anex for me and yourself. Most of all good luck I hope you make it. This is Rodger Ellias signing off for the last time."_

And with that the recording ended. Damon pressed the button to stop the recording.

Bonnie was the first to speak as she rubbed her arms. "Whoa, that's chilling and daunting along with a number of things."

"I thought the exact same when I heard this recording in its entirety." Damon stared down at the tape player.

"I feel sorry for the guy. Rodgers, seems like he just wanted to get away from home sort of like a vacation. Then of all threats in this world he dies from a snake bite. His last moments of death must have been awful." Bonnie commented soberly.

"Yeah, I feel bad for him. His dying the way he did is very sad." Damon stated with sincerity. "But, knowing he died wanting someone else to take his place in the community he described, that helped seal my decision to leave the hell I was in. Decided I couldn't just ignore the message Rodgers Ellias gave to me and let him die in vain."

Bonnie understood. "You wanted to give Ellias purpose in his death, like he wanted for the person who discovered his recording and map to. Since I have heard this recording and what his wishes are, I want to make a purpose out of his death as well."

He shifted his blue eyes towards her. "For years I wanted a way out of the New Dawn because of how much I hated it there, I was just at a lost of how to get out or where to go after I did. Then I discover this and it was like a sign pointing me in the direction I needed to go, so I took that direction. I don't want this man's death to be for no reason, I want to make his dying important because it seems like it's what he would have wanted."

She reached across the table to put her hands over his. "And you are making his death important. We're honoring his death by following through with his request to get to Virginia."

Brushing his thumb over lovingly over her knuckles he vocalized. "This tape is the reason I started this journey east and the reason I found you. And we're going to finish this journey together."

She spoke softly. "That we are. We're going to keep going east until our journey takes us to our final destination. Rodger Ellia's settlement in Virginia."

"When I first found this, I was not alone. I had the others with me. We were on a mission to Nevada."

"You mean the Militia group you used to belong to."

"Correct. I don't even remember what the exact mission was about. I just know it was some of the top men, leaders and generals. Which besides myself included Alaric and Enzo. We were in Nevada just where it met the border of California. We were searching through the area and I happened to wander a little from the group. Came up upon this small white structure and in it was a dead person."

"A person who had been dead for a while due to have it was nothing but a skelton by the time I discovered it, I thought nothing much of it because I had seen my fair share of skeletons from people long deceased. But, there was something next to the bony corpse which caught my eye."

Bonnie guessed. "The tape recorder?"

Damon confirmed. "Along with the map attached to it. My interest and curiosity being peaked I picked it up, studied it for a moment then I looked around. The rest of the group was in the distance some, far away enough where they wouldn't be able to hear what was on the tape. My instinct told me it was something only my ears should be allowed to listen to."

"I pressed play and listened to Rodger's first few paragraphs. Wasn't enough time for me to get through the whole thing, so I stopped the recording and slipped the tape recorder with the map in a knapsack I had on me to hide from the others. I knew it was dangerous if they got their hands on it or heard it. So, I hide it on my person before any of them knew what I had. And did it just in time to since Enzo had come running along…"

He recalled back to that time.

" _Damon?" Came Enzo's voice from just outside of the shack._

 _Making sure the items were well hidden away in his knapsack Damon peeped his head out of the entrance of the shack. "What?"_

 _Enzo who had his hair spiked up in a sonic the hedgehog style fashion questioned Damon. "You've been separated from the group and over here for a bloody twenty minutes. The hell are you doing over here?"_

 _The blue eyed man searched his mind for a cover up answer. Knowing it was a bad idea to let Enzo or any of the other know he had discovered the recording and the map, due to the life changing things relating to them._

" _I got the case of the shits and had to relieve myself in the bushes behind the shack for a while." Damon lied with ease._

" _Seriously, you had diarrhea or something?" Enzo made a face._

" _Must have been something I ate earlier." Damon shrugged._

" _Well, are you done now." Enzo asked._

 _Damon returned. "Yeah, it just took me a while to get it all out, but I feel much better."_

 _Enzo stepped up. "Did you search the shack for anything of use?"_

 _Damon replied. "Yes."_

" _Find something?" Enzo pondered._

" _Just a dead corpse that decayed long ago." Damon kept a straight face as he told this militia man a half truth._

" _Let me see." Stepping into the shack himself, Enzo sure enough saw the same skelton Damon had seen, but he saw nothing else. "Must have been dead for a time, nothing we haven't seen before, however."_

" _Nope." Damon went in a simple tone._

 _Stepping back outside of the shack Enzo put in. "Come on, we need to go. Alaric's ready to make our venture back to camp base."_

 _Damon realizing what treasure he had hidden in his knapsack currently just went along. "Yeah, we've been away there for a way, guess it will be good to get back."_

 _Enzo said nothing as the two of them headed back to The New Dawn members._

As he recalled what went down in his flashback, he told Bonnie what had happened back then at the same time.

Suddenly Bonnie bursted out laughing.

"Huh? Is something hilarious about my flashback to you?" Damon asked with raised brows.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! Your cover up story to this Enzo was you had gotten the shits." Bonnie laughed.

"Well, I had to sort of come up with a cover up on the spot." He mentioned her laughter making his lips curve.

"Yeah and some cover up story it was." She put in with mirth.

Damon couldn't help but to laugh too. "Right, it is kind of a funny thing to come up with out of all of the other cover ups I could have come up with I guess."

Bonnie was quite tickled at this for some reason. "And Enzo he actually fell for it."

Damon chuckled. "He did without question. Fell for my lie and sinker. Never showing even a hint he had doubted my story."

She moved the now empty bowls which she had eaten from to the side. "As long as he fell for it then that's what matters."

"Enzo never suspected how I was hiding something. He had no clue what I had hidden in my knapsack and I never intended for him or the others to know. He only saw what I didn't mind him seeing."

"The skeleton corpse."

"Yep, so when he asked me if I found anything I did tell him the truth, even if it was just half of the truth."

"There's that."

He pressed his other hand on the surface of the table. "When I got back to the camp base. I hide the tape recording and the map in a place where I knew only I could find it or know where it was. And kept it a secret for months. No one else was wise on what I discovered. I kept it to myself. Not even telling Krystal with a K what I had found."

Bonnie tilted her head to the side. "Yet, you let me know about the settlement in Virginia on the same day you and I met. I mean you did so mainly because I had a gun pointed at you, still though you told me something over all of you knew back at The New Dawn's base."

He moved his hands in the air. "Well, even though I was told you about my secret about the location of this place in Virginia and what it was provided because I was trying to save my ass from one pissed off woman. And although you were just a stranger, I find something more trustworthy about you."

"Really."

"Really, I may have known a lot of members at the base for years, but even though I had barely even met you when I told you about Anex, you were more trustworthy than them by a mile. Like there was this aura I judged about you."

"Oh, okay."

"There was no way I could let the members of The New Dawn know about Anex, especially not Alaric." Damon muttered.

Bonnie mumbled. "Because you knew what Alaric and the others in associate with that organization was capable of if they found out such a place existed."

Damon commented. "Those people who live in the community we're trying to reach, they seem like honest, good hearted people."

She agreed. "While I haven't met them before, I do believe the people who live in Anex are different than most of the people you and I have the bad luck of running across. Most being cruel, vicious and cold hearted people with the intent to kill."

"Judging from the tape from Ellias we listened to, the people of his home seem at the opposite end of the spectrum. As you said they seem like they are good hearted people. Who harbor kindness, faith and good will in their community."

Damon nodded in agreement with her. "A town of innocent people who I refused risk exposing to Alaric's cruel ways."

A crinkle formed in Bonnie's brow. "Alaric would have no doubt conflicted harm or them or worse if he discovered that place. You were more than smart to hide it from him and anyone else who would have ran to him and told him."

He shook his head. "As soon as he learned about the resources they had, he would have sent himself, along with a bunch of militiamen of The New Dawn out east cross the country to reach to Mystic Falls, Virginia. And as soon as he got there would have taken all he could for himself and his crew no matter what he had to do to get it."

She connected. "They would have went there slaughtering and murdering a bunch of innocent people and stolen all of Anex's food, water, and other survival resources for themselves. Any person who wasn't a member of The New Dawn would be vulnerable to their brutal, heinous militia tactics."

Damon could already envision the bloody, horrible scene if Alaric or one of his other men had found out about the tape. "Alaric would have ordered the mass murder of the thousands of people currently living in that community and would have done so without remorse. He eliminates any single soul which in his view gets in the way of The New Dawn thriving."

"More people would have meant less resources for his army. So, he would had violently gotten rid of the people of Anex, no matter how innocent they are. He would kill them all taking in the thrill of it and enjoying how powerful it would have made him feel. Then he and the rest of The New Dawn would have taken over the community making it their campbase.."

"Which with its advantages would have ensured The New Dawn growing stronger to spread more of their terror and control around." Bonnie added.

"Yes, The New Dawn's base is primal and primitive compared to what that place in Mystic Falls, Virginia is. Alaric, Enzo and the rest of them definitely would have taken the trip across this country for the upgrade in living conditions. Especially in a post apocalyptic world. There was no way I was going to let any of them know about what I had found out about."

"You made the correct choice, you don't even personally know those people in Virginia, nor have you met them. Yet, you thought enough about them to protect them from those as cold hearted as The New Dawn. That's empathy, Damon."

He shifted in his chair. "As we both have judged, they seemed to be good people there, not deserving of the brutal reign know as Alaric."

She voiced. "No, they don't deserve to be under such a thing, neither do most of the people left alive in this world. On the up side though, at least they're aren't defenseless like many are seems like they have many ways to keep themselves safe."

The bearded, dark haired man vocalized. ""True, from the amount of men they potentially have to guard that town, plus between all of the weapons and the ten story steel walls that surround the entire community, I suspect they have the abilities to easily defend themselves from the majority of human related threats and dangers. Whether that be cannibals, bandits or hunters."

"Still though in me being better safe than sorry there was no way I could ever let Alaric in on the fact that this people exist in the place that they do." He finalized.

"Seems like Anex along with its people living there are more than capable of defending themselves. And that their forces are equal to or maybe even stronger than The New Dawn's forces. But, you're still correct in making the decision of using extreme caution in protecting them from such evil forces. And I'm glad you kept this recording and the map which came with it a secret from them.."

"They're vicious, cruel people who don't deserve the second chance at an renewed life this community offers, especially not my deviled former father figure."

She knew he was speaking of Alaric and The New Dawn militia as a whole. She knew they would spread bloodshed, violence and death anywhere they went. Where as her and Damon wanted to get there just for the chance at heighted survival and a better life than what the majority of the dark world offered. While the two of them wished no harm to any person in that community.

She knew Alaric's motives would be completely different. Even if she hadn't personally met the man, she learned enough from what Damon told him about his abusive, cold hearted ways. She knew Alaric would only look out for himself not caring about the thousands of innocent, harmless people living in Mystic Falls, Virginia. He would order his men to slaughter all of those people if he had ever knew about the tape recording or the map.

This is why she said. "No they don't."

He studied her from his position across the table. "You know I always think about how it's something else that I was the one to find Rodger Ellia's tape."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Like out of all those who were in the area of the shack on that mission in Nevada I went on, out of the dozens of the others who would have no doubt turned the recording and the map over to Alaric if they had found it. Me, the only one who wouldn't have found it."

"That is something else."

"Found it just as I was searching for answers on how to get away from The New Dawn and go on a separate life for myself. Almost like it was meant to be,"

The green eyed woman gestured. "Because it _was_ meant to be, just like you coming across my place in Arizona was meant to be."

He smiled over at her. "Yes, us coming together in each other's lives certainly was meant to be."

Bonnie added. "Not only were you the only one out of all of the others who possibly could have discovered what you did, you were just the one to discover what you did period. Meaning that mission you went on to Nevada could have lead you somewhere else besides that particular area where that shack was. If it had who knows how differently it all could have turned out for you and in return for me."

"Never thought about it quite like that."

"Imagine if you haven't come upon the shack or if no one else ever did. Then the tape recording and the map would still been there unfound, without anyone ever discovering it, therefore learning that Anex existed. But, you did and you know what that is, Damon?"

"What?"

"Fate! This was all meant to be because it was your fate, our fate and our destiny together!"

Damon beamed "Well, Bon-Bon, I've certainly become a bigger believer of fate and destiny since knowing you that is for sure."

Bonnie exclaimed. "Just wonderful!"

Running his hands through his black hair he spoke these words next. "You know besides all of the perks we're going to have once we make it to our destination. The ones which will be as close to heaven as we can get under these conditions. Like endless amounts of food,clean drinking water…"

She brushed her hair out of her face. "...Electricity, actual running water, a highly secured community. Definitely as close to heaven as we're going to get." She ended as she had the same thoughts as him.

"Correct, looking forward to it all the most, but there's another thing I'm looking highly forward to."

Wondering what it was, she waited for his answer.

"When we eventually get there, I look forward to meeting the new people there, therefore making new friends. Always great to make new friends."

"You know, I actually feel the same way."

"Do you now."

"I do. Since I've gotten close with you I have been a lot more willing to the potential of forming friendly relationships with other people, as I believe I may have told you before. I think it would be cool for the two of us to make new friends. Hopefully the people there will accept us with a warmed, open armed welcome." Bonnie comment light hearted.

Damon rubbed his chin. "Making friends will be nice for the both of us. From what Rodgers said on the tape, I figure that they will give us a warm welcome there, especially when we tell them he basically sent us to them. And besides that won't be the only nice thing to look forward to once we make it there."

She leaned forward to hear him out.

His eyes sparkled merrily. "Once we get there will have a home together."

She understood. "You mean as in living in the same space together?"

"Exactly, what I mean."

"Then getting a home together would be nice, it definitely would be nice."

"Glad you agree because I believe a couple like us happily, in love together should live in the same space. Only right for a pair meant to be like us." His tone was happy.

Feeling him very much on this matter, Bonnie got up from her chair and walked around the table.

He followed her with his blue eyes, a grin spread across his face.

She stood next to him, eying him as he remained seated. "So, we'll live together, you and I being super in love and all. What space do you figure we should pick out to live in?"

"Meaning?" He arched a brow.

"Meaning." Bonnie sat on his knee. "House or apartment?"

"Oh, house for sure a house, we'll live in a house!" He answered excitingly.

"Again, I'm with you one hundred percent! We're a house type of couple, so a house is what we should live in!" Bonnie stated enthusiastically.

Securing her in his lap by wrapping an arm around her waist, Damon stated. "Alright, now let's come to terms since we have decided on a house, we now have to decide on what type of house we can what to live in."

Stabilizing herself she wrapped on arm around his broad shoulders. "If we could choose the exact type of house we can live in it would be lovely, like icing on top of the cake. So, what type do you have in mind exactly?"

The scent of her bath she had taken just yesterday still lingered on her delighting his senses. "How about you tell me what type of house you would like, if the option for us to pick one is available. Then we'll take it from there."

She tapped her chin. "Well, we should get something the both of us agree on, something which equally fits both of our styles and likes."

"Fully concur." Said Damon with a nod.

"I would prefer to have a house that is homey, cozy, and a bit down to earth."

"Me, I would prefer a home which is not too over the top fancy or complicated. But, simple, rustic, with just enough style to keep our time living there interesting and fun."

Bonnie really get into it as she thought about it more. "A patio where we could sit out on warm spring and summer days just enjoying the weather and each other's company. A nice sized living room area. But, I think I would especially like a house with a big kitchen if we could get it. So, we could prepare meals together there."

Damon's heart warmed with anticipation as she mentioned this and as he thought more about the type of home they could have the potential to live in as well. ""Right, we could even have meals on the patio deck or sit on it to watch the sun sets. Me I would like a house with a big lawn. And in the bedroom, the colors of it would be dark, deep colors. Including the sheets we sleep in."

"Black sheets huh?" Her expression quizzitive.

"Maybe dark blue, do you have a problem if our bedroom was decorated in dark colors." He wondered.

"Not at all. As long as I'm sharing a bed with you that's all that matters as far as the bedroom goes." Bonnie let him know.

Leaning in he brushed his nose across her cheek in an affectionate manner. "Don't worry you'll be sharing the bed with me _plenty_ of times."

Tunneling her fingers through his raven locks, she added. "Although I would like to decorate the living room and kitchen areas if I could, with bright, warm, rich colors."

Enjoying the sensation of her fingers in his hair, he peered at her through half closed eyelids. "We have ourselves a deal. See, we're already on our way to being a perfect couple living the life, because we're compromising."

She laughed. "We are!"

"We'll be domestic, just like those couples you read about in one of those romance novels you got from the bookstore that time!" He exclaimed lovingly.

"So, we'll make friends when we get to Anex, living in harmony with all of the people there. And we'll get our dream house together, where we will start to built a fresh life anew. We'll get to have a fantastic, brand new life together!" Bonnie was overjoyed at this very thought.

"And a wonderful life it's going to be for the two of us. No more suffering or struggling to survive. Just a chance for us to spend the rest of our lives together happy and in love. The road ahead is a future of promise and postivey. All we have to do is get there." He stated.

"We will get there, no matter how long it takes us to! Our future is filled with brightness and opportunity. And I'm so optimistic about it because I know no matter what happens that my future includes you in my life!" She put in with warmness.

And with those words, the pair of them shared as tender kiss, as they looked ahead to their journey to their safe haven which resided in Southeastern Virginia. They were that more determined to complete their journey to such safe haven.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

An hour after they filled up their bellies with the food, Damon attended to the two downstairs fireplaces as he put more wood in them to keep the fires roaring and the entire house warm. Shortly thereafter evening time had fallen upon the day, and since it was fall, dusk had began to fall on the evening. And it was still raining heavily outside. It had been raining like this since the day before and despite it now had rained heavily non stop all day long on the current day as well. Again it was one of the reasons why Damon had decided for them to take shelter in this house after they had fled from the Parker village.

So, because it was still raining so hard, Damon decided to collect more water for them to use. And in his search of the house, he had found an extra couple of buckets to use that he hadn't found before. Putting on his shoes and coat, he took the buckets and a couple of large pots outside to collect the water from the heavy rains.

Within about thirty minutes all of them were filled to the top or nearly filled to the top with water. Taking several trips back and forth in the house, he gathered up the buckets and pots, placing them all in a foyer in a neat line. Just as he pulled in the last of them, shutting and securing the door behind him, Bonnie came into the foyer.

She watched as he kicked off his shoes, sitting them besides the door. "You know I've could have helped you collect the water."

He took off his soaked coat and hung it up on a hook for the heat that was inside of the house to dry it. "That's alright, they were kind of heavy anyway."

Bonnie stated. "Still raining like cats and dogs out there huh."

"Yes, but at at I made use of it, got more water for us to use before it completely turns dark outside."

"That's good."

"Since we may be here a few days longer yet, we can use all of this." He gestured to the rainwater filled buckets and pots. "To take at least another bath or two between the two of us before we leave. Also we can use it to 'flush' the toilets."

"I'm aware of that, there's a trick people used back in the day when there was still widespread electricity. But, when the occasion came when they would lose it, they would have a way at times to still flush the toilet if needed." Said Bonnie as she eyed the buckets.

"Exactly, so even if there isn't electricity here, we still can 'flush' the toilets. But, still since we are here for a few days, we should only use it if we have to go number two." Was a suggestion of Damon's.

Bonnie said. "Right, to conserve the water we do have."

He rubbed his hands together as if attempting to warm them.

She observed this. "Cold?"

"Yeah, it's your typical chilly fall day outside. Plus, the rain is pretty cold and I was out for a while collecting all of that water."

"Ought not to take you long to warm up though."

"Ought not to."

Damon headed towards the stairs, walking up them he went into the bedroom they had slept in, she followed him there.

Then he took a moment to look at the clothes he was currently wearing. "Just realized how dingy these were."

"You have been wearing those same clothes for a while." Bonnie pointed out.

"I have, wish there was a way to clean them." Damon processed.

"Why don't you do what I did." Suggested Bonnie.

"What did you do?" Damon pondered.

She hinted. "My clothes were dingy from wearing them for a while, so I looked in the drawers and found some clean ones to put on."

He turned his attention towards the dresser she spoke up. "You think there are some clothes for men in there as well?"

She gestured. "Only one way to found out."

Moving over to the dresser, he opened the drawers, finding a whole drawer full of male clothes. "Jack pot!"

"You found clothing for men?" Bonnie guessed by his reaction.

"And then some." Damon proclaimed.

Since he had a selection of clothes to pick from. He choose his time rifling through them until he came up on the ones he liked the most. A long sleeved blue thick cotton shirt, some long johns which he knew would help keep him warm in the ever cooling weather and some thick manly winter pants.

"How about these?" He held the clothes up for her to see.

Bonnie studied the clothes he choose in the firelight of the room. "They really suit you."

"Then I shall wear them." To do this he folded up the clean clothes he gotten out of the drawer and placed them on the dresser on top. Then proceeded to remove his socks which were also dirty. He would look around the room and the house later on to see if there was also a clean pair of socks he could put on.

As for now, he pulled off his dingy shirt, tossing it to the ground.

She observed his now shirtless form with a slight smile on her face.

Then he removed his pants, sliding them down his legs and kicking them over to where the dingy shirt laid.

Because he hadn't bothered to put back on his underwear proceeding him getting dressed after they woke up for their three and a hour hour nap earlier, he now stood stark naked in the bedroom. And upon seeing his lean, muscular toned nude form, something stirred up inside of her and it was something like lust.

Damon reached for the clean clothes on top of the dresser, preparing to put them up.

""Wait up there's no need for you to rush to get dressed now." Bonnie spoke up.

"There's isn't?" Damon paused his actions to turn towards her.

"No, there isn't." Bonnie said coyly.

"Is there any reason why you don't want me to put on these new, clean clothes?" Damon arched a dark brow.

She licked her lips. ""Um, I'm sure you could put on your new, clean clothes later."

He repeated. "Later?"

She expressed with giving him a heated,yet light hearted look. "Later, after you join me in bed again."

Seeing the lust in her eyes, Damon caught on, this caused him to smirk. "Oh, I would guess you wanting me to join you in that bed over there has nothing to do with sleep."

"Far from sleep." She preferred to the bed they had made love in for their first time and she wanted to make love to him again in it.

"Then if you put it that way, I guess me getting dressed can wait until later."

"Since my nutritional hunger has been satisfied with food, I'm feeling the need to have my _sexual hunger_ met again." She voiced sultry.

Her words and how she said it filled the Salvatore man with immediate lust. "Then I'm more than happy to satisfy that hunger until you're absolutely _full_ of me."

His sexual innuendo wasn't lost on her, it made her green eyes darken with need for him.

"When don't you join me in getting naked, so we can feed each other in our hunger." He sexily said with another innuendo.

"I sure will!" She wasted no time she fastly removed the clothing from her body, in less than twenty seconds she was just as naked as he was.

As his eyes scanned over her naked body, he was instantly filled with an intense desire and want from her.

How he was now staring at her under his piercing blue eyed gaze, made her weak in the knees and wet between the legs. She closed the gap between them and was standing in front of him.

He placed a brief kiss on her lips before trailing a hand down her flat stomach, over her mound, where he ran his middle finger over her slit.

Bonnie shuddered in response.

Proceeding to slip the tip of his middle finger into her, his eyes crossed at how hot and wet she was. "Wow, Bennett you're already slick for me."

"Well, Salvatore." She reached down between them, wrapping a delicate hand around his stiffened length. "You're already _hard_ for me!"

This time it was he was shuddered in response.

They worked the other's sex for a while with their hands. Before quickly moving over to the bed, in an embrace they fell down on the bed until they both were lying next to each other near the head of the bed.

Then Damon moved himself half way on top of her, with one hand still used to slowly finger her, the other cup one of her breasts.

While she had maneuvered the hand which was stroking his length to trace the flesh along his pelvis, while the other played with his hair at the nape of his neck.

Bending down he took her nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the beaded pebble of it, before sucking on it gently.

Bonnie sighed softly in contentful peacefulness and happiness.

Moving his fingers out of her folds, he took them which were now wet from her juices, then ran the same middle finger over her clit which was showing from her arousal.

Letting out a small moan as her clit was smuliated, she pressed her hands to his shoulders, gently pushing him back.

Obilging with her he shifted back until his back was flat on the bed.

Crawling on top of him she pressed her chest to his, lowered her mouth near his neck.

At the feeling of her warm breath fluttering across his neck, combined with her beaded nipples, and her plump breasts pressed tightly against his chest, Damon groaned out at the wonderful feeling of it.

Bonnie put her lips against his jugular, trailing them across in tiny open mouthed, peppered kisses until she came to the area of his neck where his pulse point was, she licked the vein, before nipping at the sensitive skin there ever so lightly.

Tilting his head back on the bed to give her better access, he closed his eyes as vocal low sounds escaping his lips at the sensation.

Shifting the attention of her mouth, she grabbed his arm, trailed her kisses up it as well, until she pushed her lips on the inside of his wrist where she let her tender kiss linger there.

This along with having her pillowed, soft heart shaped lips against his wrist had him emotionally stirred, while being physically aroused from it as the same time.

Then she lifted her upper body from his just enough where she could clearly get a view of his face, she placed her hands on his chest moved them over his pecs, before pinching both nipples with her fingers.

"Damn woman are you trying to drive me mad." He hissed out.

"Just getting started!" Bonnie grinned.

Proving this she moved her hands down further, over his abs, over the bones of his defined pelvis, below his waist until….

He groaned out in sheer, immense pleasure as her hands wrapped around his hardened cock.

Encouraged by his reaction she began stroking him with both hands, up and down, from the base where his balls were to the head of his cock, repeating the process over and over again.

Soon he began to jerk his hips, pumping his stiffened length in her hand, creating extra friction which only made him groan louder.

Feeling like she was gaining control over him, she increased the pace of her hand movements over him, holding her bottom lip between her teeth, as she focused on pleasing him, from the unadulterated lust which was contorted on his facial features she would say she was doing a damn good job at pleasing him.

The sensation of his entire body felt like it was on glorious fire, especially in his groin area, he could feel a familiar feeling inside of his balls which told him if she kept stroking him like this, he would come in her hands. His pumped himself harder, faster, basically fucking her hands with his dick.

She had handjobbed him to the point where her hands were covered his his precum, which made her even wetter between the legs to the point she was dripping. The feeling of him in her hands but her desperately want him inside of her. So, she changed up tactics, removing her hands from his cock all together.

As she did so he was transfixed on her in a daze.

Rearing back until she was straddled above him, with her legs on either side of his waist she sunk herself down on him quickly, until his dick was emerged deeply in her pussy. She closed her eyes, letting out an immediate moan of pleasure.

"Fuck,Bonnie." Damon rasped out in a hoarse moan as the gratification of her hot, wet pussy walls around his hardness was so potent, he hardly could see straight.

Opening her eyes, she looked down at him with a bite of an cocky smirk, knowing full well she was in complete control of the man beneath her at the moment, this was like a turn on and a aphrodisiac to her hormones and it encouraged her to began moving on top of him.

His hands grasped her waist as she began riding on top of him.

Since she had just lost her virginity earlier in the day and since this was her first time being on top, she was a bit inexperienced in this area. So, as the pleasure build up in her body, she decided to experiment with a rotation of her hips.

"God." Damon breathed out.

"You like that?" Bonnie questioned with a husky tease to her tone.

"Yes."

"Want me to do it again?"

"Hell yes!"

She did indeed do it again, she rotates her hips once more, adding in a twist by squeezing her walls around him.

Damon let out a gruntal choked sound.

She kept going, moving her hips in a figure eight motion in a manner which had him going wild, his toes curled as the pleasure increased in his loins. After one more figure eight motion, the pleasure increased inside of her body as well, causing her to whimper out.

Then she switched tactics, started to bounce slowly up and down on top of his cock instead. And she kept bouncing on him slowly, with whimpers and mewls softly coming out of her mouth. For a while, he was mesmerized as he clutched at her waist, watching her move above him, on top of his hardened rod as if she were some sort of sensual goddess.

Growls and grunts coming out of his own mouth from how good it felt at her currently riding him, he reached up as she continued to move on him, he reached up cupping her face with one hand while the other remained on her waist. He scanned his finger over her face, tracing her lips with them.

Then she did something which caught him slightly off guard, she took his middle finger, the same he had fingered her with moments before, and sucked into it her mouth. Swirling her tonque around it eagerly.

That had him growing impossibly harder inside of her, he had rarely seen or felt something so sexy in his whole life.

Due to being able to taste herself on his finger, Bonnie was even more turned her, she moaned as she increased her bouncing up and down on him.

Removing his finger from her mouth he brushed in downward, while the one that was on her waist went upward, he then cupped both of her breasts in his hands before pinching both of her nipples, then for extra measure delivered one hard thrust upwards in perfect timing to meet her downward movement.

This combination sparked something ravenous inside of her body, with a heated electricity flowing through her, she set off and completely let loose. She rode him faster, harder, wilder. Bouncing up and down on his cock, while swiveling her hips and squeezing her walls around him at the same time.

As he was overwhelmed with ecstasy, his balls going ever tighter as he was getting closer to the pending release, he gripped her waist once more, his fingers digging into her skin as he tried his best to hold onto the ride she was giving him. He grunted louder as he bucked his hips upwards matching every bounce and swivel of her movements.

She felt like she was in control of him where at the same time feeling completely lost in ecstasy, along with the sensual sensation going through her body. And that delicious build up in her belly which told her she was very close to coming. Her lips were slightly parted, with vocalizing how good she felt in mewls.

At this point she had pretty much been in control, so to level the playing field some, Damon swayed his upper body up, until they were face to face. He was now in a sitting position with her still riding his lap.

For a while they kept up the pace of their sensual dance, with her bouncing and him jerking his hips forward to thrust into her, matching each other in perfect rhythm. Keeping eye contact as they did this, he panted and she moaned loudly until…..

Just minutes later when they both reached their peak at the exact same time. Throwing her head back, she cried out as she came in an explosive orgasm, following a second behind her he whispered her name hoarsely as he erupted into her. She stopped the movement of her hips to ride out her orgasm. But, he bucked himself into her three more times until he had filled her with the last drop of his white seed.

The two of the collapsed back on the bed, with him on his back, and her laying on top of him, with him still nestled in her, neither bothered to part ways. And they stayed in that position with him stroking her naked back until they both came down from their highs.

For the remainder of the late evening into the night they stayed in that bed, taking breaks in between their love making to just cuddle with his each other, or hold each other, or talk to each other. Before going into yet another round of love making.

The only time they got out of bed during the night was when one of them had to use the restroom or when Damon checked on the fireplaces to keep them going.

Otherwise, they stayed in the bed through the night, having sex two more times before drifting off into a good night's sleep.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

On the following morning they woke up and got dressed, with Damon putting on the new clean clothes he had found the night before and Bonnie wearing the ones she had found in the house. The morning sunlight was shining through the windows, a sign that the heavy rains of the last couple of days had finally cleared out.

Downstairs they decided on saving the food that they had left for their mid day meal, so Bonnie just made them some mugs of tea from the tea she had came across. They sat in front of the fireplace, slowly sipping their breakfast tea while having quiet conversation with each other.

For that morning they just sat around enjoying each other's company, while reading books near the fireplace. Then when Damon put in more wood to still keep the fires going, he noticed how the woodpile in the bin was starting to run low and figured he had to do something about it.

So, he got up, approaching the front foyer where his coat and shoes were. His coat was now dry from the heat, so he put that on, zipped it, then he went on to put on his shoes.

Bonnie discovered him as he was tying up his boots. "Where are you going?"

"The woods starting to run low, the problem is that if we are going to stay here for a few more days, the logs won't last us that long."

"How long do you figure until we run out of wood?"

"Maybe have until tonight? Considering there's three fireplace I have to keep going."

"You don't think there could be more somewhere inside of this house?"

Damon stood to full height after he finished lacing up his boots. "Nah, I searched everywhere, so since the sun is out now, I'll have to go outside to see if I can find some."

Bonnie shifted on her bare feet. "Could there be a chance any logs outside would be soaked from all of the rain we got for the last two days."

He shrugged. "Don't know, perhaps I'll luck out, end up finding some dry wood."

She nodded. "Well, alright let me come outside with you, it will be good to get some fresh air after me inside of a couple of days."

"Of course you can come outside with me." Damon wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk. "You know I love it when you _come_ with me all together."

Rolling her eyes at his double meaning she just had to chuckle.

She then put on her socks and shoes, followed by her jacket.

"Nothing much in the front yard, we should see what's in the back." Was a suggestion of his.

"Okay."

The two of them walked through the house until they came upon the back door. Damon opened it, the back door opened to a backyard which was somewhat overgrown with grass, brown from the ever cooling weather. The backyard was cordoned off by a fence.

Resting in front of the fence was a shed, next to the shed was a large hill of something which was covered by a blue tarp.

"Wonder what's underneath there." He looked over.

"I don't know." She followed his gaze to the blue tarp covered mound.

"Let's go see." Damon put in.

They headed through the just above ankle level brown grass, the ground still a little damp from all of the rains. Bonnie's eyes lifted up towards the sky, she noticed how blue the sky was, with a few white clouds scattered about it.

Outside currently was your average chilly cold fall day. But, it appeared to her at least how this day would be a beautiful, blue skied sunny one. Which was needed after two days in a row of rain.

Her and Damon stopped next to the shed.

"Let's see what we have." Damon pulled the tarp off the mound.

"More firewood." She stated as what was underneath was revealed.

Sure enough there was a heaping pile of firewood logs, stacked on top of each other.

"Excellent! This is more than enough wood to keep the fires going while we are here." Damon commented.

"Even better the cover tarp kept the wood all dry."

"Yep, we completely lucked out after all, I'll start carrying some wood inside."

"Need me to help you?"

He replied. "No, I've got it."

She returned. "Alright, while you are doing that, I'll just look in this shed, see if I can find something useful for us once we head back out again."

He said. "Great idea."

As Damon began to fill his arms with several logs, Bonnie moved over to the shed, opening its door she stepped inside and began looking around as the sun of daylight helped light the inside of the shed up.

Taking several trips outside to inside, Damon lugged armloads of wood from the outside wood pile to the inside of the house, where he placed them in the downstairs wood storage bin. He continued to transfer armloads to the storage bin, until it was stocked to the top with wood. He had gotten a small work out with all the lifting back and forth, but it was worth it.

When he realized how Bonnie was still in the backyard where the shed was he walked back out. "Bonnie, you still looking in there?" He called out as he headed towards the shed.

"Damon, come in here."

"Did you find something?"

She poked her head out from the doorway of the shed. "Did I ever!"

Curious he approached the shed as she stepped back inside of it. He stopped at the entrance of it. "What did you find, supplies?"

"Even better food!"

"Get out, there's food in here?"

"Yep!"

Damon crinkled his brow. "Who would put food in a shed like this?"

Bonnie arched hers. "Have no idea, but it's here."

He inched in further. "Then tell me what type of food you found."

"An whole of what they called an economy sized box of beef flavored ramen noodles." Bonnie held it up for him to see. "Twenty four packages of noodles unopened. Meaning all twenty four can be for us to eat. This is enough to last us weeks before we run out."

"Wow, that's spectacular. Great discovery." Said Damon knowing how key it was to find any food in this post apocalyptic world. Between the food he had already discovered inside of the house, along with the noodles she had just found, he was more than glad he had chosen this house for the two of them to rest in, otherwise they would have missed out on something as important as this.

"Yes, it is!" She agreed.

He rubbed his hands together. "Lucky for us, whoever was here appears to be a fan of ramen noodles, since we are too!"

She shifted the box of containing the twenty four packs of ramen under her arm. "It gets even better,"

He turned his head to the side. "Really, what can be better than ramen?"

She grinned. "Because there is also canned bacon."

"Hold on, you just said there is can bacon?"

"Yes, I certainly did."

"You're telling me something as glorious as canned bacon exists!?"

Bonnie exclaimed. "Canned bacon is real. Better yet canned bacon is already cooked and ready to eat, you just have to crack open the can, then you're free to dig in!"

Damon's eyes lit up like a child who was told that they received their most requested Christmas gift on Christmas morning. "This must be some sort of dream."

Bonnie waved a hand towards the selves. "Better than a dream, it's reality!"

His eyes drifted over to the shelves which were built against the shed wall. Sure enough there was a can of bacon there, and it wasn't just one can of bacon, but seven cans of bacon, each packed with strips of delicious cooked bacon.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Reaching out he grabbed one of the cans of bacon.

Bonnie stood there amused by his reaction.

"I've never had canned bacon before." Damon stated holding the canned porked meat in his hand as if it was the source to a fountain of youth.

"First time for everything." Bonnie returned.

"In fact I don't even remember if I had bacon at all, pigs weren't an animal we ran across commonly at The New Dawn's basecamp."

"Well, from the stories I used to hear about, they treated bacon like it was some sort of legendary meat back in the day,"

Damon lifted his eyes to her with a specific glint, one which people only got when they came across a certain food item they were really anticipating to eat. "These cans of bacon and those packages of ramen noodles you have there is enough to last us for the next month or so easy!"

Bonnie concurred. "Perhaps even a little more than a month with careful food preservation."

Damon beamed. "We're going to be eating good, Bon-Bon."

Bonnie cheesed. "We really are, Salvatore."

"Finders keepers right." He preferred to the food she had found for them just now.

"Of course, this place seems abandoned like you said, if no one else is around to eat it, we might as well put good use to it."

"Correct, otherwise it would just sit here, going to waste and being uneaten."

She put in with a nod. "And we wouldn't want that to happen, because it would be pretty pointless. Because makes no sense to go hungry or risk starving when there is edible food around."

He agreed. "Doesn't make sense at all."

She suggested. "There's still enough room in both of our bags perhaps, we should be able to fit some of the cans of bacon and packages of noodles in them between the both of us, once we head out."

He addionitionized. "And for whatever doesn't fit, I'm sure there's bag somewhere in the house which I could place the remainder of the food in to take with us."

"Good point."

"Since we have what we need and then some, why don't we go inside to fix up the chicken broth, rice, and noodles I found from before for our mid day meal!"

"Wonderful idea, I'm getting very hungry."

Damon gathered up the other cans of bacon in his hands until he held all seven of them. "Ladies first."

Bonnie smiled at him before walking out of the shed with the box of ramen under her arms.

Damon followed her touting the cans of bacon.

Once they were inside of the house, they took off their shoes, coats, and jackets and prepared their midday meal.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Upon spending several more days at this house which they had taken shelter in, they had mutually decided that it was time for them to continue on their travels. They had spent a total of five days at the house and were now rejuvenated and energized and ready to go. They had decided that they were going to leave on the morning of the sixth day.

So on their fifth night in the house, they were going to take a bath. Although it had been a few days since it stopped raining now, there was still rainwater left from when Damon had collected it. Doing the same routine he did before, he made a nice hot bath with usage of the rainwater that was left over. And because there was only enough left over for one bath, he had told her that she could take it. But, then she told him that they ought to take it with her so that the both of them could get clean.

Damon agreed with her without hesitation, they stripped off their clothes, went to the bathroom together and got into the tub. The tub was just big enough to fit two grown sized adult people like themselves into it. Damon had his back rested against the front of the tub with his legs stretched out in the length of the tub, Bonnie had her back resting against his chest, with her legs stretched out along his, the very warm water came up to their chest areas.

Lathering up plenty of soap, they scrubbed themselves real good, getting every surface of their body they could get, making sure to take a through bath because they knew it could potentially be a while until they were able to get a decent bath or wash up again.

He washed her back lathering it with the soap before rinsing it off with the water. Even after they were both clean, the warm bath water was so relaxing and calming that they remained in the tub. He was massaging her shoulders, as he had his eyes closed in peaceful meditation with her.

"Hey,Damon." Spoke Bonnie.

"Yes, Bonnie?" Damon greeted.

"Ever thought about the owners of this house, you know the people who used to live here?" Bonnie pondered.

"In passing, getting around for awhile I learned how to pick up signs. To tell the difference between whether or not an house is being currently occupied by someone. I can tell if a home is being recently or currently lived it. Or if it's been abandoned for a while with no one recently or presently living in it. All of the signs of this house points to it having been abandoned for months, so I thought about the owners in a way that said no one has been staying in this one for many months. Which is why I picked it to shelter in." Was Damon's reply.

Said Bonnie to this. "Okay."

Questioned Damon to her. "Is there a particular reason you want to know."

She rested her hand on top of his, that was loosely holding the side of the tub. "I would say that two people use to live here from what I can tell, a man and a woman."

His other hand played loosely in her slightly damp hair, which she had just finished washing as they took their bath together, he had washed his as well. "Makes sense, since the both of us found clothing for both men and women."

"More so, I believe the man and woman who lived here, whoever they were was a couple." Bonnie put in.

"Really? How so." Damon opened his eyes.

""From what I found earlier today, it was a note in a drawer, and it wasn't just any note, but a love letter like from the man to the woman he was with." Bonnie mentioned.

"Oh, that's something." Damon paused. "...now that you mention it, I do believe I saw a picture of a man and woman together downstairs, from what I saw it appeared they were together romantically."

Bonnie voiced. "Thing is that the woman of this couple passed away."

Damon asked. "You mean she died? How are you aware of this."

The green eyed woman explained. "Because this note, wasn't just a normal love letter. The man won't it sort of as a dedication letter, to honor his woman who had died."

"And what did this letter say exactly."

"While I didn't catch the guy's name, I do know from the note I read that the woman he was with named was Susan. He mentions in his letter how she had died in 2045 of natural causes, even though he doesn't mention what those natural causes were. The letter was dated last year in December 2046, the man wrote about how it was the one year anniversary since Susan's death, how he still loved and missed her and was devoting the day to remembering her and how he was would always cherish the fifthteen years of happiness she gave him. From what he wrote about her 'sunrise', the year was was born, it appeared she was around forty five."

"Hmmm, so this Susan died around age forty five? That's still rather young to die, even in such a world as today's."

"Right, it is sad and I feel sorry for the man who appeared to have loved Susan very much when he lost her. At the same time I'm not attempting to downplay her death, but…"

Damon waited her out. "But?"

Bonnie went on. "But, Susan died of natural causes, if there is a way to go I guess that was the best option for her, considering the more heinous,violent,cruel ways people have died in this world."

He uttered. "Know what you mean, I guess out of all of the options, she might have went peacefully compared to other deaths."

She sighed. "Well, if there is anything at least, it appears that she and whoever this man was had fifthteen years of a loving relationship together."

"True, some people don't even get that long together before one of them dies or gets killed."

Bonnie ran her fingers along the hair which was on his forearm.

"From what I saw of Susan and her guy in that photo, they appeared to have been very happy together." Damon mentioned.

"Yes, they do have appeared to been very happy together and he seemed to love her very much. We know of Susan dying. But, I wonder what happened to the man who used to live here….like where did he disappear off to."

"He has been away for a while, I don't see him just leaving all of this food behind unless."

"Unless?"

Damon commented. "Unless he went off somewhere because he knew it was his time, so he went to join Susan and be with her."

Bonnie understood. "So, you're saying you believe that the man went off and died, to join Susan in heaven or something."

He rubbed his hands over her bare shoulders. "It's my wild guess, although I can't be sure. Like if he missed her so much, then he eventually died himself he reunited with her in some sort of afterlife."

She thought about the potential of this in her mind. "You know, that's actually sort of comforting and sweet that two people in love could be together even after death, in the afterlife. So, I can vision Susan and her guy happy in the afterlife if he died as well."

"Since we are thinking about this in a 'glass half full', positive way." Damon mumbled. "They're most likely in a better more peaceful place than what this earth has to offer."

"Yeah." Said she.

They laid there in the tub for a while.

Bonnie spoke once more. "Do you think we'll be together for as long as fifthteen years."

"We will be together for fifthteen years and then some. We'll be together for much longer than fifthteen years." Damon brushed his cheek against hers.

"I hope so, because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, until we both grow old." Bonnie softly stated.

"We will spend the rest of our lives together, we both will old, gray, and elderly and we'll still be together." Damon quietly stated with affection.

Bonnie tilted her head back so that she was looking him in his face. "I want to grow old with you and no one else in this world."

He casted his eyes down at her with a smile. "You will, trust me you will."

She looked at him with love in her eyes. "Doesn't matter if it's fifty, sixty or even seventy years from now, I know I'll be just as in love with you in the far future as I am today."

"Just as I know I'll be completely, irrevocably in love with _you_ many decades from now, just as I am today." Damon returned moved.

"I love you, Damon Salvatore."

"I love you too, Bonnie Bennett." He told her with love in his eyes.

They shared a lingering kiss. The two of them stayed in the tub until the water turned cool, then they proceeded to get out, dry off and got ready to settle in bed to sleep for the night.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

At first dawn break, just an hour before the sun was to rise, they awoken to make their preparations to depart from the house. They got dressed, then they repacked their bags, placing things back in them which they had taken out during their five day stay at the house. They went around the house to make sure they didn't miss anything and triple checked their bags to ensure they had all of their items and supplies and to make sure that they didn't accidently leave something valuable behind.

Damon doused out all of the fires in all three fireplaces. And Bonnie checked her handguns to make sure they were fully loaded before putting the two handguns in either side of the two holsters she had on her. Then she made sure her bow along with her arrows were securely attached to her backpack.

At the same time, Damon also checked his weapons, which was his hunting rifle and revolver. He put his revolver away on him, then he strapped his hunting rifle holster on him, which had the hunting rifle safely laying on his back, held down by the compartment the holster made for the rifle.

They were already warmly dressed now, he in his coat and she in her jacket. Bonnie put on her backpack, which had a rolled up blanket on top of it to keep them warm from the cooling weather. Damon slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, sewn into the outside of the duffle bag was a medium sized tout bag he had found in the house, his duffel bag and her backpack couldn't get fit all of the cans of bacon and packages of noodles she had discovered in the shed. The reason for that being because they both had other important items and supplies in their bags. Along with some bottles of water.

A couple of days ago when he had found the tout bag, Bonnie had also found a sewing kit and had come up with the genius idea of attaching the tout bag to the side of his duffel bag, so his hands would still be free as they walked and so he would have less to carry. She sewed the tout bag onto his bag and he had placed the rest of the food which couldn't fit into either of their bags into the tout bag, it added a little weight to the duffel bag but not so much that he couldn't handle it.

Walking so far with their bags had raised both of their endurance and strengths is carrying somewhat heavy bags, due to all that was in them, on their person for long distances. Where as others might not be able to handle the weight of the bags. The two managed to handle the weight just fine. Plus, the extra carrying source bag they had with them now, had the extra benefit of them being able to get more valuable items and supplies, if they ever found some in the building rummages down the road.

As both of them were now ready to go, they stepped out of the house just as the morning sunrise was peeking over the horizon. He shut the door to the house.

Then he turned to Bonnie. "Ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm ready." She pulled her beanie hat down onto her head.

"We have everything, correct?" He questioned.

"Yep, everything since we triple checked to make sure." Bonnie confirmed.

Damon stepped down off of the front porch. "Alright, let's get moving, we can walk for a few hours and take our break around noon."

That was when she just recalled something. "Wait?"

He looked over his shoulder towards her. "Yes, Bonnie?"

She stepped down from the porch next to him. "I believe you have something of mine."

"And what would that be?"

"My knife."

Damon did recall how he had taken her knife from her after she killed Kai with it and put it away in his coat since she was so shaken up. "Oh, yeah."

She observed him with her green eyes.

"Would you like your knife back?" Damon asked her.

"I would like it back." Bonnie replied.

So, Damon reached into his coat, retrieving the knife he had placed there days ago. He handed it over to her.

She took the knife in her hands, the blade had been wiped clean of Kai's blood, but she recalled how she had slit his throat with this blade, recalled how Kai's expression had turned to one of shock, fear, and panic as the blood gushed from his throat. And how she finished him off with a stab to the chest before he fall to the ground, taking his last breaths.

"Are you alright?" Damon studied her reaction knowing it was the knife she had used to defend her life against the sociopath Kai.

Although she still felt some of the traumatic fall out from Kai's violent, aggressive attack on her and the whole experience of that. And even though she had just killed him days ago, the act within itself of ending Kai Parker's live, Bonnie was completely okay and at peace with that decision. She did it to defend her life and well being, she would never have regrets about cutting Parker until he bled dry.

Bonnie strapped the knife to her leg, like she had done before. "Yeah, I'm alright."

He gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

Reaching out she took his hand in hers. "Let's get moving."

"Okay, we'll get moving." Damon brought up her hand to kiss it, before interlacing their fingers together.

The pair of them walked away from the house they had sheltered in for five days. And in the morning rising sun, they continued their journey out east through Louisiana.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **Hello to all who read this chapter and are reading this story. I just wanted to give one chapter for these to to enjoy some peaceful,calm,happy, and loving time together as a couple.**

 **But. the drama and action will pick back up within the next few chapters. Thanks to all those who are still supporting,reading, and reviewing this story. Please keep the feedback coming!**


	17. Chapter 17

For the following month, they continued their eastward journey on foot at a continuous pace. The temperatures continued to drop every week by a couple of degrees or so, making the weather trend more and more towards winter. And even though the Southern parts of the United States, usually didn't get as cold as the Northern parts, it was still getting quite cold outside. With the colder temperatures being even lower than what they usually were in the region at this time of year.

Over the course of this month, they hadn't ran across another soul or hadn't even seen another person's face. Even though they had covered miles and miles through this time, they managed not to come across even one other person or meet up with one other person. Once again it seemed like they were the only two people for hundreds of miles around. Which was just a reminder of how the entire planet was sparsely populated, with a population so low that at times a person could go weeks or even months without seeing another soul, depending on where they were located. And that any groups of people who lived in the same area in decent numbers were scattered about in different places across the land. The complete opposite of the time before the world 'ended' where densely populated areas were far more easier to find.

However, considering how their last run in with people went back at the Parker Village weeks ago, Damon and Bonnie didn't mind the peaceful solitude of only have each other's company for the time being.

Due to them focusing on conserving the food that they did have, they still had some of the food left over with them from where they had found back at the house they took shelter in weeks ago. They did this by eating only two times per day and sometimes once per day to save up on the food for as long as they could possibly have it. Because of this over the month, they now still had about three and a half cans of bacon left, along with having thirteen packs of ramen noodles left, out of the big economy pack Bonnie had discovered. Which would be enough for them to stretch out for another week or two before they ran out. Thus having to start to search for other sources and options to feed them once more.

Their steady foot traveling had led them through the remainder of Louisiana, then had led them from much of the state of Mississippi. So, currently they were just about forty miles from where the border of Mississippi met up with the border of Alabama. They had made pretty good process in the past month, especially considering how they had made it all on foot. And for the last week, they had done the routine of walking in the daytime, resting at night, then starting walking again the following days at first day break.

Since both of them felt slightly tired from the eight days of travel they had done in a row, they agreed on stopping somewhere to rest for a few days, before they tired themselves out or managed to get themselves too exhausted. As they agreed on taking a break for a few days before they kept up on their traveling, they needed to find some sort of shelter to help shelter them from the chilling November weather. They had hit an area where there was mostly nothing bit rural area and wilderness around.

And they were unable to find an abandoned house or building to stay in due to this. Which lead them having to go with their next option, to do something they often had to do in this world for their survival or to make the living condition as tolerable and manageable as possible. They knew they had to improvise to find a shelter which wasn't a house or building. As neither of them were keen on spending some cold November nights out in the open, if they could avoid doing so.

Their way of improvising was to take a detour off of the two lane, eastbound highway that they had been walking on for a few weeks now, as Damon had discovered on the United States map book he had acquired to help them navigate as they had traveled. And this particular Mississippi two lane highway, had been an alternate route which drivers used back in the old days, as an alternate way to go into the Alabama, other than the major interstate. Which was why they had decided to navigate using the two lane highway, until it took them into Alabama.

So, as this section of road didn't have much shelter options for miles, they decided to take a detour in the woods next to the highway to see if they could find a place to stay under and rest for a few days. Since the road had been made to be traveled on by cars going fifty five miles per hour, as one of the signs faded from time had read, this explained why there weren't many houses or buildings along the way on the road. As it people in cars could get to one destination to another destination containing buildings rather quickly. But, of course the pair of them didn't have the option to travel by car. Which left the possibility that the next group of buildings which could provide them shelter could be miles away from them still.

With a house or building not appearing to be anywhere near them, their detour off into the woods, which was a short distance away from the two lane highway, took them to a spot about a twenty minute walk away from the highway, close enough for them to find their way back to it when they would need to use it to continue on their travels once they had gotten the break they desired.

Successfully, their idea of finding some sort of shelter in the woods worked when they came up on a cave. They walked into the cave to study it, to see if this would be the proper place for them to rest for a few days. The cave was about the average wideness of most caves, the ceilings of the cave was about twelve feet tall, and although it wasn't overly deep, it still went back far enough and extended far enough to provide a cover and a shield from the outside elements.

After taking some minutes to observe the cave and its surroundings, the two of them concurred together on selecting this cave as their sheltering place. It had a roof made by mother nature herself, sure to keep them dry from any precipitation that might end up showing up in the next three or so days. And mother nature's cave had also provided them with walls to help shield them from her cold weather.

Once they had decided to use this cave, the two of them walked far enough inside of it to block and defer most of the cold air which was at the mouth opening of the cave, yet made sure not to walk deep enough in it where they would end up getting lost. Although once again from their viewpoint the cave didn't seem to be one of those overly deep ones, which could extend for hundreds of miles into the earth.

They placed down their bags in the precise area of the cave they had decided to set up their camping site at for the next few days. And although the cave did provide shelter from the weather, it was still chilly enough inside of the cave to need a heat source to keep them warm. Especially because it would get colder once nighttime fell. It was still daylight outside when they had found the cave, however the sun was starting to set over the horizon, which meant that darkness would start to come in about a couple of hours.

To get ahead of the nightfall, they moved quickly to build themselves a fire pit for a fire, inside of the cave where they were staying. Together they walked out of the cave, searching in the forest next to the cave for all of the tools they needed to help them build the fire they would need. First Damon gathered up some large rocks and lunged them inside of the cave. Then the both of them gathered up a bunch of sticks and twigs, along with some kindling from the forest floor.

Moving back into the cave, they toted the sticks,twigs, and kindling back to the area where they had placed down their bags, which was the spot in the cave they would be staying in. Proceeding to get to work on their fire, Damon made a circle with the rocks wide enough for a fire to fit in between and made makeshift fire pit. Bonnie placed the sticks, twigs, and some of the kindling in a large pile in the middle of the pit circle. And place the extra ones she had to the side to add to the fire later to keep it going. Then Damon used a lighter he had found to start the fire.

Within about twenty minutes, the fire in the was simmering, going strong providing them with enough heat to assist in keeping them warm, along with providing them for light to see as they sun had almost disappeared below the horizon at this point.

Once the fire was going, they maneuvered to setting up their camp area. They unpacked a few items and together used the blankets and covers they had carried along with them to make a makeshift bed for them to sleep in. They made it close enough to the fire where the heat of it could still keep them warm, but far enough where the blankets and covers wouldn't be set to blaze by the flames of said fire.

They placed one of the thickest covers they had on the cave floor, to offer some comfort and provide a barrier for themselves from the hard cave floor. Used another thick blanket as a pillow to lay their heads on, as well as for an additional layer to lay on. And with the third cover they laid it over the thick blanket, as this cover would be used as a cover for their bodies once they had fallen asleep. All they could manage to carry with them was the three covers and blankets, due to the other stuff they had to carry on their person and in their bags.

However, she still had her jacket and he still had his coat, which they could use for addition warmth, if the cover wasn't enough alone to keep them warm. Whether they wore it or used it as an addition source to cover their bodies, they still had other things to keep them warm at least.

By the time they had settled down the nighttime had taken over as the sun had been down for over an hour at that point. Due to their conserving food, combined with the fact that they had eaten two times on the day before, on this day today, they hadn't eaten anything all day long. As they decided to eat only one time on today to help them save up on food, before switching back to eating two times on tomorrow.

Due to this both of them were naturally hungry. So, they made their comfortable spots next to each other on the cave floor, then they got out a pan, proceed to fill the pan halfway with some water, they placed in the pan two packs of noodles in the pan of water. And placed the pan over the fire for the noodles to cook. Once the water was boiling and the noodles were cooking, they added the remaining pork meat which they had saved up in that half can of bacon.

And the two of them just sat there, patiently waiting for the noodles and bacon to finish heating up so that they could have their meal for that late evening. It was in the middle of October when the two of them were in Louisiana, as it had taken them a month to make it through the rest of Louisiana, combined with tracking their way through most of the state up Mississippi, up to being close to the border with Alabama. They were currently in the month of November or more specifically it was near the end of November.

As they were actually in the fourth week of November now, a thought came to Damon's mind.

"You know, this is actually a special time of year." Damon spoke breaking the peaceful silence they had going for a while.

"Is it?" Bonnie asked with a half smile on her face.

"It is, or more close to it being a special day." Damon stated.

"What do you mean by special day?" Bonnie pondered.

Damon hinted. "As in Holiday."

Bonnie arched a brow. "Oh?"

He stirred some of the noodles in the pan, along with the bacon. The food wasn't far from being ready for them to eat. "If the calculations in my head are correct about time, today is the fourth Thursday in November."

She nodded. "You would be correct about that, it is indeed the fourth Thursday in November."

"And you know what Holiday came on the fourth Thursday of November, don't you Bon-Bon!"

"Let me guess, Thanksgiving."

"Correct! Today is Thanksgiving or what they used to call Thanksgiving before the world went to shit. I may not have been made aware of all things growing up due to the crappy environment of my childhood, which limited me to learning stuff, outside of what I was drilled into my brain with The New Dawn. Yet, even with the limits on what I was allowed to learn or know about, the one thing I did and do have knowledge about is Thanksgiving."

Bonnie mused him. "Oh yeah, what do you know about Thanksgiving then."

Damon put in. "Well, I do know that it's an American Holiday."

Said Bonnie. "It's a Canadian one as well."

"Really?"

"Really, the Canadians just celebrated in a month earlier than Americans did."

"Interesting to know, even though I'm focused on the American one."

"Okay."

He added like someone who was eager to share information they knew. "I picked it up from an old history book I had found, the first Thanksgiving was in 1621, when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at a place called Plymouth in order to celebrate an Autumn Harvest."

She commented. "Right, I did learn from being homeschooled how that is regarded as America's 'First Thanksgiving'.

Damon put in. "But, then if I recall correctly it didn't actually become an holiday until later."

"November 26, 1863 was when it became an official National Holiday for the States." Bonnie confirmed.

"So, then America has pretty much celebrated it since then." Damon mentioned as he stirred more of the noodles and bacon. The aroma from it made his mouth water, partly because they hadn't eaten anything all day.

"Yet, another one of the things my Dad told me about which happened when he was around, you know before the apocalypse, was the Holidays he had celebrated."

"And just what did your father tell you?"

As some of the water had evaporated out of the pan, Bonnie added the spice packets which had came with the ramen noodles, to the pan for added flavor as she stirred them around. "He said how there was a few people who didn't exactly agree with the whole premise of Thanksgiving, including himself."

He kept his eyes on the food to make sure it didn't burn. "Why is that?"

She told him. "You know the United States was founded on the genocide of Native Americans, as well as the enslavement of Africans and black people."

"Yes, I also read up on how cruelly treated the Natives and black people were in this Nation, read it in the old history book, along with reading up on the first Thanksgiving. Very vicious and heinous how people with certain skin tones were treated just because they weren't white. Actually puts some of the history of America in a shitty view." Damon muttered.

"And that's why some people did not agree with the whole celebration of Thanksgiving, as it was a reminder to some of the brutal treatment of the Natives as the hands of the white colonizers. Native Americans especially had problems with the Holiday and with good reason." Bonnie uttered.

"You do make a point, as did anyone who took issue with an Holiday which celebrates a reminder of how certain groups of people were so brutal and horribly treated." Damon voiced.

She studied the food which was a couple of minutes of way from being complete. "Which is why my Dad was just one of those who just used the Holiday to celebrate their own special meaning to it, more so than what the definition of Thanksgiving was made into an Holiday for."

"Which was?"

"Which was, Thanksgiving was made more into a day where one who gather around with their families at the house of a relative. And sometimes people who hadn't seen their family in a while or who lived in different parts. Would all drive or fly down to the relative's home. Then they would use the special day as an opportunity just to spend time with family and enjoying the company of family. Thanksgiving was a day many selected as a special day for family gatherings, which is why my Dad looked so forward to it."

Since the food was finished cooking, he moved the pan away from the fire, to let it cool some before they started to eat it. "That is a more meaningful way to spend a day like today, than whatever is was supposed to be founded on."

"It is more meaningful to just turn any Holiday into spending time with family it's better that way I think." Bonnie shifted how she was sitting. "Something else they would do on Thanksgiving is watch football."

"Like football on TV during Thanksgiving became a tradition or something." Damon guessed.

"About as traditional as having turkey on Thanksgiving!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Damon grinned. "Food on Thanksgiving, now you're talking my language."

Bonnie chuckled. "I would be talking your language no matter what day I mentioned food."

Damon admitted without hesitation. "True! So you were mentioning turkey."

"Turkey was the main dish on Thanksgiving that most people served back then on this day."

"Yeah, unless they were a vegetarian."

"In that case there were still many other non meat dishes served on Thanksgiving annually which sounds just as delicious as the turkey did."

"Such a mashed potatoes? Stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, fresh baked rolled bread." Damon licked his lips as if he could taste these very food items.

Bonnie joined in on his list as she recalled what her Dad had said his family had often had on Thanksgiving. "...Yams, Mac and Cheese, Collard Greens, CornBread, Potato Salad, and there couldn't be turkey and stuffing without gravy to go along with the turkey."

Damon's mouth watered. "Sounds like gravy would go along with the mashed potatoes as well."

Bonnie's eyes lit up as she really got into this conversation over Thanksgiving food. "Of course mashed potatoes and gravy go perfect together!"

"And that's just the main course we're talking about, there's also the factor of Thanksgiving dessert!"

"There is because there can be no Thanksgiving without this desserts."

"As in pumpkin pie? I heard it was a common sweet back then."

Bonnie nodded as her way of confirming what he had said about pumpkin pie. "There was also sweet potato and apple pie. Along with many other varieties for desserts!"

He rubbed his stomach. "Discussing all of this Thanksgiving food is making my mouth water and making me even more hungry."

She felt her own stomach growl. "Me too, especially because we haven't had anything to eat all day."

Hearing her belly growl made him deliver a short snort of laughter in response.

"Besides the food though, the one thing out of the many things that's still stuck with me from what by Dad said to me and taught me was about the importance of family." Bonnie uttered as she returned to the discussion of her father. "And the one thing he highlighted about the relatives he had, was how he always looked forward to Thanksgiving in spending the whole day with them."

"They were your father's family members, which means they were blood related to you too." Damon pointed out.

"They were, However besides my Dad, I never got to see any of my other family members. You know, Grandparents, cousins, Aunts, Uncles….never have met members of my immediate family or extended family." Bonnie expressed.

He adjusted his legs and how he was sitting as he listened to her.

"From what I heard from him, my Dad just ended up losing contact with them, which eventually lead to him not seeing many of them ever again."

Damon furrowed his brow. "And the reason for him losing contact?"

Bonnie sighed. "For the same reason a lot of people lost contact with their family members. The machine, which malfunctioned, causing massive weather destruction and ruin everywhere, killed a ton of people or either wrecked the infrastructure of what the modern world was back three decades ago.

"Wrecked infrastructure which included the form of widespread communication they had back then. And as I said, many people were killed or went missing during those first months after the machine started all of the destruction. Unfortunately much of my Dad's family wasn't able to escape this unscaved. So, even if he didn't tell me the details of how he lost contact. My best guess if that he lost it with them, because some of them were among the millions who died. And the others just vanished. Or he couldn't reach them because of transportation and communication going down. Either way he lost contact with them one by one, never seeing them again due to the apocalyptic situation going on."

"Sorry, your father lost his family, sorry you never got to see your other family. Completely sucks what happened to all of those people." Stated Damon.

"Yes, it's sad. Naturally my Dad would have grieved the loss of his family. However, what he held onto in order to assist him in surviving, were those memories he had before the world went to shit. Which greatly included those of the them he spent with family. He held onto them, including of the ones of Thanksgivings. And what he held onto he carried over and gave to me." Bonnie reminisced on one of the moments and conversations she had with her dad.

Damon just gave her a look of understanding.

Bonnie pressed on. "What he gave to me was the importance of remembering those good moments, moments which if someone you loved has past away, you take whatever time you had with them and cherish them all of the more. So, he carried what his relatives gave to him with him, in return I'm carrying what he gave to me with me."

Damon complimented her with a soft tone. "You certainly are, making him a damn proud Dad of your life every day."

It always warmed her how support and sympathetic he was whenever they discussed her deceased parent, who she would always miss, yet proudly carry with her.

"Most important lesson about an Holiday like today, is using it to bond, cherish, and spend time with the people in your life you love." Bonnie added warmly.

"Kind of how we're doing at this exact time." He put in equally as warming.

"We're doing that aren't we!" She exclaimed.

"Yep!"

Another thought entered into her always busy brian. "You know what another tradition to Thanksgiving was?"

Damon rubbed at his bearded chin. "What?"

Bonnie implied. "Giving thanks, people would use this day to give thanks to whatever they were thankful for having."

He nodded. "Yes, they did give thanks to what they were grateful for on a day like this."

"And they would do it before they ate their Thanksgiving dinner."

"I have an idea."

She pursed her lips. "Which would be?"

He gestured to the pan he had set to the side to cool. "Why don't we say our Thanks and what we are thankful and grateful for before we eat!"

She half smiled. "That's a lovely idea."

There was about an half of minute silence between them, before he did a single nod in her direction. "How about you go first."

"Well alright, I will." Bonnie studied his appearance. Due to the factor of him not having cut his hair in weeks, his hair had grown from the length it had been when she very first met him. Currently, his hair had grown just past his chiseled jawline. It was disheveled from how he constantly ran his fingers through it, yet it was appealing on him as it was thick, slightly wavy in it's midnight black.

Which made her want to run her own fingers through it at this moment, as she had several times before. As she had done a couple of days ago when he had his head between her legs, devouring her like a pro. She resisted the current urge to run her fingers through his hair at the current moment though. And just took the time to study him, with his now jaw length hair, his beard and those intense icy blue eyes who was studying her as she had studied him.

His current appearance was very appealing to her, then again she figured he would always be physically and handsomely appealing to her no matter what his appearance was.

"Cat got your tongue?" Damon questioned in his amusement after he just noticed her studying him, in the way woman studied a man she was sexually attracted to.

"Uh, No." Bonnie chuckled.

"Hmmmm." This time Damon pursed his lips.

Moving her mind away from how physically appealing she was, she focused it on thinking about what she was thankful for, then started with. "Since we are on the subject, I'll start with me being thankful for my Dad. I still miss him of course and always will. Yet, I'm thankful for him fathering me, because no other man could have been my dad the way he was. Or do for me what he did. Especially not under the current circumstances of how the world turned when my mother gave birth to me."

Damon couldn't help but think of his own mother, the one who had abandoned him in a dumpster for Alaric to find. Although the thought of his mother abandoning him at birth did anger him at times, making him feel resentfulness towards whoever the woman was, currently he didn't actually feel upset at remembering his neglectful parent. This was just something that came to her mind as Bonnie discussed her own parent.

"Anyway, I guarantee for a fact how I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for all of his sacrifices he made for me during my childhood to ensure I lived. He did everything he could do to assist that I got to grow up to still be alive today. And as I mentioned before gave me the best childhood that could be had under the circumstances of this world. So, I'll always be thankful for by Dad." Bonnie finished in a tone of a person who expressed loved for a parent figure.

He shared in her sentiments on being thankful to her Dad, as he himself was grateful to the man for ensuring Bonnie Bonnie got to be in his life.

"I'm also thankful for a time period after my Dad passed away. Don't get me wrong, him passing will always be a painful time in my life, will always trigger loathing inside of me directed towards Alaric and the rest of The New Dawn who executed him in cold blood..

Bonnie went on to explain. "What I mean is, I was still a kid when I had to be without the only person I had ever known. And on the fly, I had to quickly adapt to surviving on my own. I managed to do it at an incredibly young age, where was you said, not a lot of people, even adult people would have been able to survive under the same types of struggle I had to face."

Damon nodded. He had often thought about how incredibly strong she was to live under the suffering conditions she had been forced into at childhood age, while still managing to come out on top. When people much older than she had been perished away.

"Every day since I was ten years old, I had to fight, claw, and climb my way to survive and to live. Yet, I did so. Which is why I'm also thankful for the survival skills I learned. Whether those skills involve finding food or water. Or knowing how to defend myself in combat and weapons skills against all those stupid enough to try and threaten my life. I'm thankful for every single day I have seen alive on this earth, for every single day I will see alive. I know how tough it is, which is why I refuse to take anything for granted. Whatever you and I can find to help us survive, I'm thankful for that as well." Said Bonnie.

"Damn correct about that." Agreed Damon.

"Can you guess what I'm more thankful for?"

"The potential to know what pizza tastes like once we make it to Anex?" Damon joked.

She laughed at his joke. There was a few pictures of pizza that had seen when they were walking through a Mississippi town, which they had came across shortly after crossing into the state from the Louisiana border. The town like most places, was completely abandoned and void of all people. Along with being void of all signs of human life.

The buildings of the town, like it other ghost cities,urban areas,suburbs and towns. As in all of those places, the buildings of the town were ran down, crumbling, deplidated, breaking down, or overgrown with grass, plants, and trees due to the lack of maintenance by humans. Yet, they had come across something which was an sort of Mom and Pop looking Pizza Parlor.

The faded out sighs and pictures showed different varieties of pizzas. Which had lead to her saying how she wondered if they could try pizzas once they made it to Anex. Which he had wondered himself as well. They concurred on giving the pied dish a try if it was available in the settlement they would eventually reach.

"No, silly." Bonnie chuckled getting his joke because of this.

"Oh." Damon arched a brow.

"On this Thanksgiving, I'm the most thankful for you." Bonnie let him know.

"Oh." A delighted Damon wiggled his brows with an added grin.

Bonnie glanced at him. "I realize I have said this more than once, but I'm going to say it to you still. I'm thankful to the day I met you and therefore thankful for every single day we have been together since. Every second I get to spend with you, I'm thankful for. And I'm thankful for you coming into my life because without you I know where I would be, which is back somewhere near the West Coast, most likely alone. Never even going you existed."

A feeling of love for her entered into his heart as she expressed these words to him.

Her voice was quiet yet strong in sincerity mixed with feeling. "So, I'm just thankful the most for you being a part of my life, thankful you love me and most of all, how I love you."

"Wow." Was his response.

"Wow?" She arched her brow.

"You've just got to give me a minute to gather myself from being so moved by those spectacular words coming from your beautiful mouth." Damon explained seriously.

This time it was her turn to wiggle her eyes and grin. "Oh, then take you know gathering yourself."

Damon paused to gather up his feelings and what he wished to say.

Bonnie waited in silence for him to go on.

Clearing his throat, Damon started by saying. "Oh this Thanksgiving day, I'm too am thankful for being alive. Knowing what a struggle it is and how bleak this whole planet is because of what resulted after the world went to shit. I'm thankful because I know a lot of people end up dead, are dead, just glad not to be apart of those dead bodies. So, grateful to not be dead."

Next to him she reflected on how she was also grateful on him not being dead.

"Every second I can feel the air in my lungs, with the beating of my heart is truly a blessing. My life was truly like a hell back from where I came from." Damon spoke of his time at the New Dawn. "Had to go through some difficult times and hardships. So, I'm thankful for being able to escape from the living hell. And find a way out of those difficult times and hardships. Since I've found a way out, my days have gotten better so I'm thankful for those better days."

Staring into the crackling fire, Bonnie kept her ears trained on him, listening to what he was thankful for.

"We both know I have done heinous, awful acts of violence against people who didn't deserve. Which I will never be proud of and will always carry some guilt over. But, I'm glad I feel or felt guilt at least, I'd rather feel guilt about the killings I committed in my brutal past over not feeling guilt or caring about what I'd done." Stated Damon.

"And you feeling remorse and guilt, is exactly what makes you human and so different from the others." She reminded him as she reached over, patting his knee supportively.

"Yes, I feel remorse, will always feel remorse." He pronounced being sincere. "That guilt and remorse is why I had to leave that place. Since then I haven't harmed another innocent person, just as I'll never harm an innocent person or human being who doesn't deserve it again. Which leads me to another thing I'm thankful about. And that's a chance at redemption, to have a second chance."

"If there's one person on the earth who should get a second chance then it's certainly Damon Salvatore." Bonnie pointed out.

"Why, thank you, Bonnie Bennett."

"Very welcome, Damon Salvatore."

Damon looked over at her as he studied her, just as she had studied him earlier. Studying all of her features from her flawlessly smooth caramel skin, to her heart shaped lips and especially her emerald green eyes, that drove him mad to have her and love her at the same time. She was a beauty to behold to him.

"Last yet absolutely, definitely not least. I'm thankful on this Thanksgiving day for my gorgeous girl!"

A delighted Bonnie beamed in reaction to his last announcement.

She could feel herself blushing under his gaze.

"I'm thankful for how fate brought the two of us together. Been thankful since the glorious day on which I met you back in Arizona all of those months ago. I truly didn't know what I was missing in my life until I met you and you came into it. I'm thankful for your presence, for each day I've spent with you being better than the last.

"And I'm most thankful to have a woman such as yourself love me, because that makes me the luckiest man, who feels blessed by the gods to have you by my side of all of this time. I'm thankful for how you let me love you….I'm not one hundred percent sure on whether God is real or not. But, if he is I'm grateful to him for creating the beautiful Bonnie Bennett for which I'm super thankful to have in my life." Damon vocalized with meaning.

"Whew." Bonnie fanned her face, as she could feel herself get teary eyed as this declaration of thankfulness. "What a deeply, impactful, inspiringly romantic exchange we just had upon on words of being thankful for each other!"

He winked. "Yeah, mighty powerful and emotional, the types of moments with each other we cherish with each other, right."

She winked back towards him. "Correct, one hundred percent. Cherish, always!"

He whistled. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to eat."

She felt her stomach rumble again. "So, I'm I!"

He made a gesture. "Then let's prepare to have on our version of Thanksgiving dinner with a loved one."

They proceeded on preparing to eat. Damon had gotten the two bowls they had carried with them to eat their meals in. He transferred the noodles and bacon from the pan into the bowls. Giving both of them an equal portion of the food, so one wouldn't have a bigger portion than the other. The fair portions was enough to fill up both of their bowls to the top, with just enough left in the pan for both of them to have seconds if they wanted it.

As he had done this, Bonnie got out two bottles of water for them to have something to quench their thirst as they ate their meal.

"Here you go." He held out a bowl to her.

"Thanks. Your water." She took the bowl in one hand, holding out one of the bottles of water to him. While she had the other next to her to drink.

"You're welcome and thanks." Damon took the water from her, uncapped it to take a quick gulp. Before placing it to the side to drink with his meal.

Soon the two of them began eating. The food was still very warm, although the pan had been put to the side for a while for the food to cool. They chowed down the noodles with bacon mixture for about a minute.

Then Bonnie spoke. "Hmmm, Even though this isn't quite Turkey with all of the fixings, it's still quite a delicious warm meal."

He slurped up some noodles. "Nothing like warm food after a long day of walking in the cold."

She fully agreed. "Especially when such food includes bacon."

"Mixing in the bacon with these noodles." Damon paused to give a thumbs up. "Makes us culinary a genius!"

"Especially because bacon goes with everything!"

"Not turkey or any of the traditional Thanksgiving foods. Yet, still one hell of a enjoyable, Thanksgiving feast….because bacon!" Damon animated.

"An enjoyable, Thanksgiving feast indeed!" Bonnie exclaimed once she had swallowed down a mouthful of noodles and bacon. "Just another thing to be grateful over."

"You've got that right!" He exclaimed before taking in his bowl full of food.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Once they had finished devouring their meal, which included both of them having the rest of the seconds that was left in the pan, they wiped down the pan they had cooked in, along with the bowls they had eaten out of. To have them clean enough for the meals they would have on the following day.

Once each of them took a break to relieve their bodily bathroom functions, they got to the task of settling down inside of the shelter the cave provided. To keep up the warmth around their campsite, they added more sticks and twigs to the fire to keep it going.

As a couple of more hours passed by, it was getting later into the night, however since neither of them were tired enough to sleep just yet, they decided to stay up until the urge to sleep over took them. Which meant them just being awake as they took in the peaceful warm setting of their campsite. They just spent this time enjoying each other's presence as a couple.

Bonnie was glad for them being able to rest inside of the cave for the next few days, because both of them needed the rest before they moved on. There was a particular part of her body which needed this resting spot the most, which were her feet. Walking long distances or walking a lot without taking much of a break did tend to take a toll on a person's foot at times.

And this was no different for her, both she and Damon were in excellent shape due to all of the traveling on foot they had experienced. And because of this she had excellent endurance to walk for miles at a time without getting tired, as Damon also had this endurance.

Yet, still due to the eight days in a row of walking for hours and hours, with the two of them over the last eight days, choosing to only take three breaks during these days (A 90 minute break in the afternoon, 60 minute break in the evening, and then stopping once it got an hour passed night time, so they could get some sleep before waking for the next day to get walking again. This was the pattern they had done for the last eight days.)

As they had decided to only take three breaks to help them cover greater grounds. Because of the last eight days of walking, combined with the fact that today her and Damon had been walking since eight 'o'clock this morning, with the expectation of a 90 minute break at the side of the road earlier in the afternoon. Because and due to this factor, it had taken a toll on Bonnie's feet.

It wasn't like her feet were in some sort of unbearable pain or discomfort. However, her feet were currently just a little achy enough to be noticeable, it was tolerable, yet noticeable. So, in order to relieve them some, she had taken off her shoes and socks, as she and Damon had sat next to the fire. She was sure her feet would feel better in a day or two once they received the rest they needed.

Damon, however had a better idea, when she mentioned absentmindedly how her feet were slightly achy, he suggested a foot massage to her. Told her how a foot massage would help her feet feel better much quicker. Then he like a perfect boyfriend offered to be the one to give her said foot massage.

Not being the one to turn down such a generous offer from her man, she quickly accepted his offer of a foot massage. So, he patted his lap, taking the cue she put her feet into his lap.

Beginning the procedure of massaging her feet, he started with her toes. Working them one by one between his fingers, from the big toe all the way to her pinkie toe.

The green eyed woman sighed with contentment as someone would do when they were on the receiving in of a really nice massage.

Concentrated on relieving the aching in his woman's feet, he kept massaging her toes for a few minutes, before moving towards the rest of her feet. Massaging the top of her feet, then maneuvered to the bottom of her feet. Where he massaged her heels, then kneaded the balls of her feet, followed by the arches. He repeated this over and over again until he had a pattern going.

After several minutes of this pattern of his kneading and massaging her feet, Bonnie was once again thankful for him, thankful for his magical long fingers and what they were doing to her feet. The feeling sending a relaxed sensation all across her body.

Glancing over at her as he kneaded and massaged, A smirk came over the blue eyed man's bearded face. As she seemed to look like she was in absolute heaven, he figured he was doing more than a great job at this.

Her eyes became half lidded as she watched him, his hands feeling incredibly good on her feet. Soon she discovered how correct he was in how a massage would help her quicker, as soon she began the slight aches in her feet began to slip away.

He maneuvered his attention to the ankles and achilles part of her feet, focused on massaging and kneading in the same way he had done with other parts of her feet. Whistling along a tune as he did so.

She was indeed in heaven, as he was doing wonders for the muscles where he was massaging and kneading. Which made the muscles in the rest of her body relax. She let out another sigh of contentfulness.

And because she was obviously enjoying his massage so much, he was enjoying giving it to her, especially with the signs of contentment coming out of her mouth every now and then. It really just made him cherish yet another moment he got to spend with her by his side. Plus he thought that her feet were cute, delicate and small.

For about five more minutes he continued doing what he was doing. Switching between focusing the work on her toes, to her entire foot, to her ankles and achilles.

Bonnie kept observing him as he did this, him doing this for her although while it might not have been a huge deal for other people, it was a huge deal for her as it reminded her of all he had done to take care of her needs and wants.

Whatever her needs were, no matter how small or large, he always attempted his best to attend to them. Was always generous in his attention towards her. Tried to provide for her whatever she wanted, as she tried to do for him in return. He went out of his way to keep her pleased, satisfied and happy. Did all he could to take care of her, even while knowing she could take care of herself.

It was his simple ways of showing how much he loved her, like when there was a last bite of food left between them he often would offer it to her, well aware of how sparse food could be overall, and therefore how every bite of food a person took counted. Still he often did so. As he had taken care of her in many different ways.

She loved to take care of him as well and his needs as well. But, still when he did such things as massaging her feet, as he was now doing, she wished she could return the favor to him or at least show him through gestures and meanings of love, how much he meant to her and how much she loved him.

One of the ways she had wished she could show him appreciation was by giving him a gift, a gift which only a person gave to their romantic love interest. She wished to give him something romantically sentimental, like she wished she could have a gift to give to him now. Yet, she didn't take she had anything of the sorts.

Then it dawned on her, as these thoughts, made her suddenly recollect something.

"Uh, Damon?"

"Hmmm."

"I…" She was about to say.

He ran the knuckle of his pointer finger down the center of the arch on her left foot.

This movement from him had her eyes cross, then temporarily left her speechless.

"Were you going to tell me something?" He repeated the process of the knuckle on the arch of her foot, but this time with her right foot.

She was at a lost for words once more. "I…."

He arched both brows in amusement. "You what, Bon Bon?"

Bonnie shook her head to clear herself of the distraction he was causing her. "I believe I have something to give you?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"And just what do you believe you have to give to me?"

"Something I didn't remember I had until I just now thought about how I wanted to give something to you."

Curiosity entered into his features. He was really interested in what she was referring to.

She moved her feet out of his hands, then swung her feet off of his lap. "Let me see if I can find it."

"Wondering what it is you have to find." Now his tone was curious.

"You'll see." Bonnie simply said.

Then she scooted over to her backpack which was within close reach of her. She opened the main compartment of her bag. Looked inside of it where it was filled with a variety of important survival items designed to assist both her and Damon on their travels. Because it was nearly packed, she couldn't automatically see the special item she wanted to give to Damon.

This caused her to have to take some of the stuff out of the bag, to lay them to the side to make the search easier. She of course would place all of the items back into the bag once they packed up the campsite in a few days down the road to start traveling again.

"Bonnie, you need some help finding something there?"

"No, I've get it just give me a minute, okay."

"Okay, whatever you say!"

Continuing her search, she shuffled through the other items which were still in her bag, hoping what she was thinking of was still there.

Damon watched her, cocking his head to the side on what she was up to.

After a few more minutes of searching through her bag, she ran a hand over the inside of the bottom of the bag. Until her hand hit something which felt like stainless steel. "Finally!"

"Found what you were searching for." He guessed.

"Yes, here it is." She wrapped her fingers around the object and then with a closed fist took it out of her bag. She scooted back closer to Damon once she had what she had needed.

He could see whatever she had in her hand was grasped in her fists so he wasn't able to see it. He had zero clues as what she was holding, other then the factor of it being small enough to fit into her hands.

"What do you have there?" Damon questioned.

"Before I show you just yet, I'll just say this." Bonnie announced. "As you know one of the main reasons for learning to live and survive at such a young age was because a one major fact. The major factor of me becoming a smuggler, who traded for goods and products. Mostly this involve me trading the goods and products I managed to collect, I traded these collected goods and products with other people I ran across the way. Trading so that I in return could receive items essential to my survival. You know water,food,hygiene products, weapons, and bullets of such."

Damon nodded. "Yeah, I'm well aware in the expertise you developed in the business of smuggling and trading for your survival."

Stated Bonnie. "Yes, well even though the majority of the time I traded to get essential survival products for myself. I did occasionally trade for items which were not specific for living and surviving every day. The types of objects which aren't important, key, or needed for a person to live. However, these things would be what you call a person doing for fun, a hobby or something to draw in a person's interest.

"So, therefore if I saw something that I figured peaked my interest to have an hobby to do or something to peak my interest, I would trade for it, with other Non-survival important objects I had. For example when I was Oregon City at fifthteen years old, I ran across this old man who had a walkman, with a handful of cassettes to play in it. I asked him to trade for it with me."

"And this old man's answer?"

"He said he really liked his walkman, so he said he would only give it to me, if I offered him something he liked better in return."

Damon pondered. "So, what did you have to offer to him?"

Bonnie mused. "Somewhere I had found the whole entire book series of _Lord of the Rings_ by J. R. R. Tolkien. I showed to him in offer for trading his walkman. His eyes got giant like saucers. Like when a kid would get excited when they opened a gift on Christmas."

"So, he was a fan then."

"A fan and then some. He was old enough to have been around before the apocalypse happened. So, when he was younger he was a fan of the _Lord of the Rings_ movie. Which he apparently went to see them all. Then, there weren't any movie theaters capable of showing those movies of course. So, he had missed out of the _Lord of the Rings_ for a while. The series of books I showed him was the first time he had laid his eyes upon any version of the series in over ten years."

"Wow." Said Damon.

"So, I guess you could understand this old guy's point of view. When I offered up _The Lord of the Rings_ book series to him, he agreed to trade his walkman to me for the books faster than I could blink. In the end, I ended up with a walkman and he ended up with those books, as it turns it was a well done business deal."

Damon mentioned. "You never let me know you had a walkman."

Bonnie returned. "Because I don't own a walkman anymore."

Asked Damon. "Why not?"

"It broke, so I couldn't use it."

"Man what a bummer."

"A bummer." She agreed. "But, on the upside I got a few good years use out of it, it was nice for going around being able to listen to some of those cassette tapes. For an old, man he did have some taste in music."

"Well, at least you got use out of the walkman while it lasted."

Bonnie went onto explaining her point of what she had wished to give to him. "A lot of the time I could manage a trade for one non essential object for another non essential object. Other times I might not have had as much luck. Or more so than that, I still tended to focus most of my smuggling and trading in getting the much needed survival items for myself…

"Anyway before I ramble on, I was just thinking about how I wished I had something to give to you, like you know as a way of showing my appreciation towards you." Bonnie said towards him.

He gave her one of his signature smiles.

"I didn't think I had such a thing to give, until I remembered just now. I had forgotten I had it due to all which has happened over the months. Really didn't cross my mind, mainly because it wasn't an important survival item I guess. But, still thinking certain thoughts just brought it up back to my memories. I was so relieved when I actually found it in my bag instead of losing it or something." Bonnie finished with a curve up her lips.

"Alright, you've peaked my interest, show me this thing you keep speaking of." Damon rubbed his hands together.

"Alright! First you have to close your eyes though."

"Close my eyes?"

She gestured. "Please, it's a surprise."

He looked at her for a second longer before he followed her request and close his eyes.

Bonnie made sure he had his eyes close before she opened up her fist to reveal the object she was holding in her hand. "Alright, you can open your eyes now!"

He opened his eyes, then trailed his eyes downward to her hand. "Whoa!"

In her hand, which was open,facing palm up was a rather large ring. A large ring fit for a man. The ring was made out of stainless steel and Sterling Silver. In the center of the ring was a large stone, this large stone was a deep pretty blue. On top of the stone was some type of fancy crest.

"Whoa!" Damon exclaimed once more.

"You like it?" Bonnie was encouraged by his reaction.

"Hell yeah, looks awesome where did you get it?" He eyed the impressive ring in her palm.

"Actually, don't recall where I got it from, I just know I have found it sometime before the two of us met."

"Oh,"

Bonnie shrugged. "On the day I discovered it, I just threw the ring into the bottom of my bag, in case I ever found someone to trade it with."

Damon pointed out. "But, you never managed to work a trade deal with anyone for it."

Bonnie corrected. "More so because I was focused on trading for more valuable objects. So, it just passed by my mind. I'm glad I didn't trade it away because then I wouldn't have it today."

Damon said. "I'm glad you didn't either."

"This blue stone you see here it's called a Lapis Lazuli stone. And I'm sure the crest on top of it is supposed to have some sort of special meaning to it."

"How neat, huh!"

"Here, take it please, it's a token of my appreciation for you." She sweetly insisted.

"Thank you." He grabbed the ring out of the palm of her hand.

"More than welcome." Bonnie beamed.

He held the ring between his finger, brought it close to his face so he could study the design patterns etched into the sides of the ring. "As I repeat Whoa! This ring is very kickass, like seriously wearing it would make me feel totally badass. Truly amazing and fantastic for a guy like myself."

She observed. "If you ask me, there's something in the aura of it which suits you, now that I see you holding it."

He twirled the ring around glancing over at her. "If only I had something to offer to you in return for this lovely ring. Tell me, Bonnie what can I offer to you in exchange for this wonderful token of appreciation you have given to me?"

She vocalized with sly sheepishness. "Just your heart, all I need is your heart!"

Damon gave her a warmed expression which crinkled the corners of his eyes with joy. "Then you already have ownership of my heart, signed in contract, to be yours always."

"Awesome, I'm fully satisfied and happy to have the ownership of your heart, so like a good business woman who used to trade, I say you and I have a deal here. Salvatore!"

"Of course we do, yet we should shake on it to seal this deal!"

The two of them playfully shook the other's hands, then smiled at each other.

"Go ahead, put it on." Bonnie uttered.

"Alright." Damon slipped the ring onto his finger.

"How does it fit?" Bonnie needed to know.

"Fits perfectly!" Damon wiggled his fingers.

Bonnie whispered to him. "Consider this my gift to you, a gift of my love for you, a gift to show how much I care about you, and a gift to show how deeply meaningful you are to me."

Damon whispered. "You know, I've changed my mind."

This made a crinkle form in her brow, wondering what he was changing his mind about.

He added with astonishment with the love he felt for her at this very moment. "I don't like this ring, I _love_ this ring. I love it because it comes from you, you kept it with yourself this whole time and it was because you wanted to give a gift to me for why you remembered it. That means so much to me, Bon. And because you've given this as a gift to me. I accept it fully with all of my heart..

"I'll take this ring and I'll hold it with me forever, everywhere I go. Because it came from you this ring is apart of me now. So, again, Thank you!"

"There's no one else in the world I would rather have than you. You are really special to me, Damon and I'll spend everyday showing along with telling you just how special you are." She voiced overwhelmed with endearment and feeling.

"Bonnie Bennett, you are my guiding light." Damon emphatically stated. They were already sitting close, however he moved even closer to her so that their bodies were touching now.

Bonnie could feel her heartbeat pick up with enthusiasm at his body brushing up against hers.

Damon made sure to put meaning in his tone. "And you set my entire world on fire, a fire which burns hotter than all of the stars in the universe. This fire helps fuel on of the stars in _my_ universe, the billions of stars in my universe which represent just how much I love you."

She reached out, put her hand against his cheek in a moving gesture to what she felt for him. "You have ownership of my heart too, you know. Signed in contract to be yours forever. You light the sun inside of me, Salvatore. Sometimes I feel so much love for you that I wonder to myself how I hold it all in inside. Then it bursts out during moments like these. All I know is I love you and I'll carry this love for you inside of me always."

"You're going to be receiving a ring of your own one of these days, you know."

"I am?"

"From me, a ring from me, plans for our bright future together. Which included me slipping a ring on your finger." He expressed to her tenderly.

"Are you hinting at what I believe your hinting at!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Reaching over with his hand he had just placed the ring on, he grabbed onto hers. "My dream is one day seeing you walking down the aisle towards me, looking beautiful in a wedding dress and us getting married!"

Her green eyes filled with something meaningful. "Some lovely dream you have, some lovely dream for sure. A dream in fact which is possible for me to have as well, you know the whole us getting married thing. If it's at all possible."

Damon assured. "It's very possible, we could get married one day, if we plan to. As long as we both want to."

She leaned into him. "I want to someday, if you do."

"All I can see in my road ahead of me, is my happiness with you. Doesn't matter how it is done as long as we get married! Won't even have to be one of those big fancy wedding couples used to have. As long as I get to slip a wedding ring on your finger and become your husband."

"I wouldn't even have thought that getting married was possible before you. Then again there wasn't even a man I would have ever wanted to get married to _until_ you. You hold my universe in your hands. So, I'll look forward to the day when you get to slip a wedding ring on my finger. And there's nothing more I would love to happen than for you to be my husband and for me to become your wife." As she said this, she said it astounded in her feelings, her heart brimming with the wonderment of actually getting married to this man before her.

"Yeah?" Damon whispered.

"Hell yeah." Bonnie emphasised.

With her declaration, it hit him in two ways. In one way it made him immensely moved by her words. In another way it stirred up the burning desire he always felt for her, and brought that desire to the surface. Showing her exactly her affect on him, he stared her down rather intensely.

His piercing blue gaze staring her down, was filled with so much heat and desire. She didn't think a lot of men had the ability to impact a woman with just a look. Yet, Damon Salvatore was easily one of those men. The way he was staring her down, impacted her with a shiver of pleasure up her spine.

For a couple of minutes they just had a intense, heated, desire filled staredown. Then without anything else needing to be said, they smashed their lips together, with a clash of lips and tongue their kiss quickly know passionate, as their tongues battled for dominance. Pretty soon they were kissing each other breathless.

Bonnie had to paused only briefly to catch her breath, before their lips came together in a sexual dance once more. His kissing so sensual and deep, that it sent a pool of wetness between her legs, as she quickly grew aroused.

The cave filled with sexual tension, need, and want as if boomed off of them both. And before they knew it, both of them had stripped out of their clothes. Now fully nude and naked, with the fire they had built keeping them warm. As they were naked, they maneuvered over to the makeshift bed they had made.

Their lips came together for a third time, with this time the kiss being more hungry, heady, and needy. As the kiss was making her more aroused still, she showed him just what he was doing to her, by biting his bottom lip between her teeth, then yanking him gently by his hair, to move her mouth over to his ear. She brushed his hair to the side in order to get access to his ear.

Then she took his earlobe between her teeth, clamped down on it, not enough to cause him pain. Just enough to deliberately stir up certain juices she wanted to stir up inside of him.

"Oh, you want it like that." Damon's voice was hoarse.

"Want it like want?" Bonnie smirked seeing she was having the desired effect on him.

"Want it a little rough." Damon challenged.

"Who, Me?" Bonnie tugged his earlobe between her teeth once more.

This caused Damon to hiss out.

Chuckling, Bonnie licked at his earlobe, then nibbled at the pulse point in his neck.

Damon growled. "Keep on doing things like that and you just might make me explode."

"Like this?" Wishing to work him into a lather, she scraped her nails across his pecs, before pitching his nipples which was hard from arousal.

"Rough it is then." He hotly stated through his teeth.

"Bring it on!" Her tone husky as she was clearly turned on.

"Glady!" With his entire being burning with immensity to have her.

Before he went there, however he wished to work her up a little. So, he trailed his mouth, tongue, hands, and fingers over her bare naked flesh. Greedly making sure he touched every inch of her nudity within reach of his mouth and hands. Feeling himself grow harder with everything on her which he touched and tasted.

Soft moans began to escape her, as every inch of her body his mouth and hands came into contact with, lite her body aflame. And with every stroke of his tongue on her most sensitive parts, with every contact of his hand on her nude flesh. She could feel herself getting wetter and wetter.

A deep growl of ferocity went through him as he brushed his fingers over her thighs and hips. While ghosting his tongue around the underside of her breasts.

Pressing herself against him, with heated skin pressed against heated skin. She writhed and gasped out.

"Get on your hands and knees." He ordered pitching a taut nipple of hers.

The sensation of her nipple being pitched made her gasped out in a good way, sent another shiver down her spine.

"Now." Damon commanded with lust in his eyes.

"Sure thing." Bonnie's tone and her whole demeanor was filled with lust, turned on all the more by his dirty ordered command.

Maneuvering her body, she turned around until her back was facing him. Then she proceeded to go onto of her hands and knees on top of the makeshift bed. Grateful the covers and sheets beneath her provided enough softness and support for what they were about to do.

From his position, he had a perfect view of her from behind. Her position of being on her hands and knees, emphasised the view of her plump round ass, while also giving him a view of her pussy from behind. A pussy which was gilsoning. Obvious proof that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Taking a moment to appreciate her body, he leaned back on the balls of his feet, studying her the way a person would study fine art. Yet, to him, Bonnie Bennett's body was it itself fine art.

"What are you waiting for?" Bonnie eyed him over her shoulder, her facial expressions heady with need.

"Just appreciating this fine view I have."

"Why don't you show me such appreciation!" She challenged.

"Oh, I will, trust me I will!" Damon inched closer to her.

He moved closer to her until he was upright on his knees, with her still on her hands and knees, with her ass facing towards him.

He was so close to her now, she could feel the hardness of his cock against her ass which made her shudder out.

Damon ran a hand from her shoulder blades, down the entire length of her back until his hand rested just above the curvature of her butt.

She continued to look at from over her shoulder, eagerly anticipating for him to make his next move.

"I want you to fuck you so badly right now." Damon told her.

"I do too!" Her voice was filled with want and need. She just wanted him inside of her already.

He wished to be inside of her as well, yet decided to play around with her for a bit to see how worked up he could get her, because he wanted to hear her beg him to put his hardened cock, into the glorious tight wetness of her walls.

So instead of entering her immediately. He brushed the tip of his length against the lips of her sex, in a manner which had the both of them crying out. He brushed the head of his length over her from top to bottom. And kept doing this over and over and over again. Until she the juices were flowing from her to the point where she was nearly squirting for him.

Her scent was so over powerful and strong at this point, it made his mouth water, to the point where he wished to put his mouth on her pussy. Yet, he decided that, that part would have to wait until another time. Instead, he kept repeating teasing the her sex with the head of his cock.

She was crying out, mewling as she was so wet with arousal at this point, she could feel some of her juices slide down her inner thighs.

He breathed in through his nose, while releasing another growl. Not only was his routine of teasing her with the tip of his cock working to get her more aroused, it was doing a number on him as well, as he was so rock hard and horny at this point that precum oozed from its head.

Yet, he kept repeating this process, teasing the both of them, as he drove them both near the edge of ecstasy.

With her core so burning and wet that she felt like she had an ocean leaking from between her legs, Bonnie ached to have him inside of her so badly. That she just had to speak out about just what he was doing to her.

"Damon, I love you, but I'm going to need you to hurry it up a little bite." Bonnie groaned out as the pressure of pleasure built up inside of her.

"Patience is a virtue, Bonnie!" Damon smirked knowing what a pleasant impact he was having on her entire body.

"I'm going to need you to get your dick inside of me, before I explode." Said Bonnie as her tone implied the extra heavy lusted desire she felt.

He returned to her with his tone equally heavy with desired lust. "I'm going to need you to say the magic word."

Her lips curved slightly in amusement. "Are you really going to play it like that?"

"Oh, yes I am!"

"And what is this magic word you want me to say?"

"I have a feeling you know what the word is, I want you to say it, matter of fact I want you to beg me to take you." Damon traced a circles on her lower back.

"I'm not saying any magic word and I'm fore sure not begging." Bonnie playfully defiant.

Damon snickered just as playfully. "Are you sure about that, Bon Bon?"

Bonnie replied. "Yep." With a little laughter added into it.

The fact of them being playful even where they were currently in the throes of passion, with the sexual and sensual build up around them so thick that one could taste it, was a sign of the strength of their relationship.

Damon accepted her challenge. "We'll just see about that then."

"I guess we will"

So, he proceeded to doing what he was doing by the teasing of his cock against her heated walls, then he added in his pointer finger by ghosting it over her sensitive button peeking out from under its hood due to just how aroused she was.

This made her body shudder as she felt like she was on the verge of coming.

Breathing heavily from the tightening of his balls begging for his length to be inside of her. He ghosted his finger over her clit once more.

"Damon."

"Say the magical word, Bon."

"I need you inside of me." Bonnie breathlessly admitted.

"Then beg me, beg for me, Bonnie." His voice was strained as he was barely holding it together himself.

She pleaded wantonly. "Fuck me, Damon, please, please fuck me."

Hearing her beg was exactly what he wanted, having her exactly where he wanted her, he aligned his dick perfectly with her dripping sex, and snapped his hips forward. With one motion, he was buried inside of her to the hilt.

She hummed out in vocal approval as the walls of her pussy immediately took a hold of his hardened rod. Him feeling so good inside of her enticed her to add in a purr along with that humm.

Once he dick was inside of her, Damon let out a low rumbling howl out of the back of his throat. Then thanked the heavens for the woman before him. Being inside of her like this felt like home, it was his home. Which made him add in another howl.

Still looking back over her shoulder at him, she semi circled her hips, then added an expert squeeze of her walls around him.

This got Damon to take off, he grasped onto her waist and started to pound into her from behind. Since they had become a couple in the past month, they had, had sex and made love more than they could count on either of their fingers. Giving them plenty of time and different ways to make love, as well as different creative ways to pleasure each other. If they weren't travel walking, foraging buildings for supplies, eating, sleeping, or doing other things, then they were doing one particular thing.

And this one particular thing was the two of them getting naked with each other whenever they could manage to do so. Always expressing their sexual passion and hunger for the other. They expressed this in different ways. Sometimes it was just through tender, gentle, slow love making. Other times it was more passionate, rougher, and harder. As a good fuck was.

Which was exactly what they were doing at this very moment, just having a rougher, good fuck. They were just a couple who could either make sweet, tender love to each other, or have a good, hard round of sex which each other.

As they were having such round of sex currently. Damon was bucking his hips forward at a wild, frenzied pace. Grinding himself in and out of her hard and fast. His grip on her hips nearly bruising as his balls smacked against her with nearly every inward thrusts.

All Bonnie could do was attempt her best to keep up with his frenzied pace. She could no longer keep eye contact with him and had to turn her head, looking forward with her mouth hanging over from the pleasure of it all.

The cave walls, held in and echoed their mixed cries,moans, and groans of ecstasy, absolute pleasure, and bliss. With the both of them breathing heavily, panting as they could feel the pressure of release building up in the both of them.

Mewls, whimpers, and cries of pleasure loudly came out of Bonnie's mouth. As she felt like she was in pure heaven with his hard, fast paced ramming into her.

The sounds and noises she made overwhelmed him with a feeling he couldn't quite put into words. It made him feel arrogant, proud, and powerful to always know he could make her vocalize those types of noises.

And yet, she had this similar type of power over him and perhaps even more so. Since he had first made love to her, since he had first been inside of her, he had become addicted to her. Always wanting her, always craving her body. Always being in this never ending quest to need and have her.

He figured he would live the rest of his life feeling this way. And that he would go to his grave wanting her still, a scenario he was perfectly fine with as long as this was the result. With his never ending quest including wanting more of her, he wished to feel _more_ of her and a different way. So, to meet this quest he pulled out of her from behind.

Bonnie opened her mouth to protest at the sudden loss of their connected bodies, since she was so close.

He moved quickly, flipping her onto her back to change her position, wasting no time he plunged himself back inside of her. Rejoicing as her walls instantly took ahold of him once more.

Whatever protest she had in mind, was cut off by a verbal cry of bliss as he buried himself deep inside of her again, this time with her laying on her back. So, the position of him being inside of her felt different, yet still oh so good.

Once again, Damon resumed his pounding inside of her, pushing himself in and out of her at that fast, rough pace they both desired at the moment. And for a while the cave was filled with the overpowering sounds of their heavy breathing, with the sound of flesh connecting against flesh.

He panted out grunts as he could feel himself getting close to that glorious release, knew she was getting there to from the noises she was making, combined by the fluttering of her walls around him. And now he wanted the both of them to get there at the same time.

Encouraged by the noises coming from her, he bent his head down engulfed her right breasts in his mouth, before biting down slightly on her pebbled nipple, while reaching down between their bodies to pinch her clit, all while his hips were pistoning at a maddening pace.

The combination of him doing all of this to her at the same time, was like a pleasure overload to her system. She hollered out his name as she had an orgasm so intense, it brought tears to her eyes.

Seconds later, he joined her in release, half grunting, half moaning he ecstasy as he emptied himself inside of her. For a minute, after they were done, he just laid on top of her as they both of them were panting from the incredible ordeal they had just completed together.

After taking a half minute more to catch his breath, he slipped out of her, rolled from off top of her and ontop his back on their makeshift bed. The two of them maneuvered themselves together. He pulled her close to his body with one hand, then pulled the blankets over them with the other, so that their nude bodies were covered.

She snuggled up against him, feeling one hundred percent contentful.

"You know what?" He spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"What?" She returned.

"This was quite a way to end a Thanksgiving feast wouldn't you say!" He exclaimed.

"Uh huh!" Bonnie agreed with a overwhelming joy, as her body was buzzing from what had just happened between them.

"Much better than any Thanksgiving day dessert. I would take this over apple and pumpkin pie one hundred times out of one hundred!" Damon grinned.

"Me too! Me too!" Bonnie declared as she buried her face into his bare chest and let out a fit of laughter.

He hold her close to himself and let out a fit of laughter with her.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Over the course of the next session of months, they keep on their journey to the east, with the both of them more determined to make it to their final destination with each step they took. They continued with there pattern of travel walking some days in a row, then taking time to rest for a few days in a row.

They attempted to seek out shetler along their journey whenever they could and sought out shetler more often than they did in the spring and summer time months of their traveling. Along the way, when they needed to stop to sleep somewhere for the night, they made sure to seek out a building, house, or some other types of shetler which would allow them to be inside.

As they did this because of how much colder it tended to get at this time of year due to the weather. Which was again different from the spring and summer months, where they didn't mind camping or sleeping outside more often. So, whenever available they made sure to sleep inside of a place, then cuddled and snuggled up against each other for warmth while they slept at night.

And the other way they tried to keep warm was of course by building themselves a fire. And whenever the option was available for them to do, they build fires inside of the places they had sheltered in from the cold.

With their combined survival skills, they managed to do a decent job at keeping warm without getting too dangerously cold. However, even while they worked to conserve the food they had found, the bacon and noodles they had discovered back in Louisiana eventually ran out. Which made them have to go to a different method of feeding themselves.

This was the method of them having to hunt more for their food. Which meant hunting animals. And over the course of the weeks, hunting animals wasn't as easy as it may have sounded to some, as many of the animals had tended to seek shelter themselves or not be as out and about as they tended to be during warmer times of the year.

But, they still managed enough animal sightings along the way to hunt, kill, then prepare and eat them. With Bonnie's bow and arrow they had tracked down and killed a variety of animals for their meals. Some of which may not have been appetizing to the average person back before the world ended.

Yet, then again those in the current world couldn't quite afford to be picky eaters as much, so the two of them didn't complain about the types of animals they ate along the way. They hunted enough to keep themselves from starving, ate enough to give their bodies the energy, and cooked the meat well enough for it to be tasty or at least edible.

Food had already been so hard to come by in this world, yet the colder, fall and winter months could make it even more difficult to come by. Some people really struggled to find what they needed to feed themselves. Which was why some even went as far as to kill others just for a bite of food or survival supplies.

No where was this more apparent than when Damon and Bonnie had stopped to rest in Georgia, As they went to Georgia to go their way up North to where they needed to go. Being rather hungry, they had managed to spot a duck in a nearby pond. It was a wonder as why they duck was there considering the weather, yet they didn't question it.

Instead, Bonnie shot the duck with her arrow, Damon defeathered and did what he needed to do in order to prepare the duck for proper and safe consuming. They built themselves a nice fire and soon began roasting the duck over the fire for their next meal.

However, it seemed like they weren't the only ones looking forward to eating the roasted bird meat. Two people, a man and a woman who was complete strangers to them, approached them. The two of them had no idea who these two people were, other than the fact that they seemed like a couple themselves from how they interacted.

Whatever the case, this couple who was the first people Bonnie and Damon had seen since the Parker Village, had somehow spotted them, their fire and saw they were fixing up a meal. The man and woman dressed in dirty, ratty clothes wanted some of the duck which had been currently roasting on the fire when they had approached Damon and Bonnie.

As a matter of fact they didn't just wanted some of the duck, they wanted all of the duck for themselves. And they didn't ask for it, they demanded it. Along with demanding all of the other supplies they had seen when they approached.

All this man and woman had, was the dirty, ratty clothes on their backs and a guns strapped to their hips. So. they wanted Damon and Bonnie to hand over everything they had including the duck, sighting how hungry they were.

Having worked so hard to scrap for every single item and object they had with them, which included collecting some of their supplies from various buildings and homes they had gone through and searched through along the way of their traveling, Damon and Bonnie of course refused to get the man and woman anything for theirs. Especially because they had no clue as to who these two people were and especially because they weren't just going to hand over their survival necessities and supplies to people who didn't earn them, after all of the work they had to go through to get the supplies in the first place.

Plus, the process of hunting down the duck wasn't exactly an easy one, first they needed the luck to find the duck, then Bonnie had to use her expertise skill with her bow and arrow to shoot the duck down before their meal could escape. SO, the pair of them let it definitely be known to this man and woman on how they weren't going to give up any of their supplies nor would they give up their duck. And told them they ought to go and find their own supplies and food, then added for them to get away from them.

Apparently, the man and woman took offense to this, as if they were entitled to Damon and Bonnie's supplies, items, and food just because they demanded it. They implied in a threatening manner for Bonnie and Damon to hand over everything or they would end up taking it by force. Which obviously did not sit well with The Salvatore man and his Bennett woman. Neither of them took very kindly to having their life threatened, as people who had ran across them and done so before, learned a harsh lesson on why it was a mistake to threaten the pair of Damon Salvatore and Bonnie Bennett.

Yet, this man and woman seemed destined to want to learn this very same lesson. As they did what other people often did in this world, when they wanted to get important survival necessities and food from other humans, they killed for them. And then proceed to steal from the person they killed to steal the stuff from.

And this man and woman fell into the line of those who threatened violence to take from others want wasn't rightfully theirs. As this man and woman with the dirty, ratty clothes took offense to their demands being refused, they gave away their next move and how that next move would be violent. They reached for the guns they had on them, as if they were prepared to shot Damon and Bonnie for all they owned.

However, this man and woman either wasn't aware of the other pair being armed as well or they figured they could beat Damon and Bonnie to the punch to shoot them. Either way, it was a grand mistake they made. Because with the priority of their lives at hand, combined with them both predicting the next move of that man and woman.

Damon and Bonnie drew their guns faster than the other pairing did, then before they knew it, the other two laid dead at the hands of Damon and Bonnie, from the single gunshot wounds to the vital parts of their bodies. So, with the short lived gun fight, if one could call it that, two more people were added to the list of those who mistakenly crossed Damon Salvatore and Bonnie Bennett.

All this confirmed to the two of them was that they needed to always be on their guard for threatening and dangerous folks, even if those folks they ran into was few and far between. Not at all fazed by the pairing they had just killed, because they had done it in self defense, they disposed of the bodies of the now dead guy and girl away from where they were cooking their duck (Just far away enough where the bodies wouldn't be a disturbance to them in any form).

Once they did that, they returned to where they were and what they were doing, just in time enough for the duck to finish cooking over the fire. They brushed themselves off and enjoyed some fire, freshly roasted duck. Before they moved on further down the way until night time had fallen later on.

Although their expertise survival skills was a large factor in them making it this far. And although their ability to improvise and be innovative even under the most inconvenient circumstances was the reason for them still being alive. Another factor across the way,was the reason for why they had made it this far. Which was the reason of luck.

Luck helped them get by in how they were able to find non perishable foods every now and then through all of the time they had been traveling. Every single time they were lucky enough to find such foods, they were well aware of how fortunate they were to do so with food in this world being so rare and hard for most people to find. Which was again why hunting skills or knowing how to grow ones own food was essential to survival.

One of the reasons they did conserve non perishable food items when they did find it, was because they knew the planet had a severe case of food storage going on, food storage which had caused the death of many to die by starvation.

So, they were thankful whenever they found food and always said they were lucky whenever they did so. However, every once and a while even the most luckiest of people could find their luck running out sometimes.

And this case was no different for Damon and Bonnie, considering how this world was rather harsh on luck and fortunes in the first place. The two of them had ran into a wall of actual bad luck, at least as finding food went.

Since they had ran into the treasure trove of bacon and ramen noodles in October, they weren't able to find any types of foods falling into the category of pre produced or processed food. As the next months passed by, they searched through abandoned buildings and homes, hoping to hit a homerun in the food department. But, instead they only managed to strike out, which resulted in the food shortage situation of the world coming back to put a damper of their foraging for processed foods attempts.

They compensated for this through hunting, as they had taken turns to hunt down and kill some of the animals they had come across along the way. And for a few weeks this compensation worked, allowing them to get by and sustain themselves by killing and then cooking over the fires they made a variety of wild animals. Yet, still to do this they had to look for the animals to hunt down and it was sometimes harder to find them than in other times. And hunting was easier said than done. But, they still somehow managed to get by for some solid weeks with hunting as their main food source.

They were left with little other choice for this to be their main food source at the moment, since the vast majority of any potential wild edible plants, fruits, or vegetables had died out or went dorimant due to the colder weather and winter coming on. Hunting for animals kept them going for a decent while.

But, even that soon get very difficult for them, after of some weeks of finding animals to hunt down, they started to run into some difficulties on that front. As they kept moving through the way, eventually the supply of animals stopped, from either hiding or being elsewhere. Whatever the case was, when the animals were no longer available to them, this meant that food was no longer available to them.

The severity of food storage and availability caught up to them and impacted them in an negative manner. They had from time to time came across periods of days where they couldn't find any food. Yet, managed to always find some through either fishing,hunting, foraging for wild plants, or finding pre-produced and processed foods in buildings and houses.

Yet, now they were having a particularly difficult time, exaggerated by the cold weather. And no matter how hard they tried or where they looked they couldn't find anything at all to feed themselves.

Currently, it was presently in the middle of February 2048 and they were now presently in the most Southern parts of North Carolina, with just one more state between them and Virginia to where they needed to get to.

They would have been very pleased with this development of being just one state away from the salvation of Anex if it wasn't for the current situation bringing down there moods. And this current situation was a lack of food. The lack of food had hit them hard. As neither of them had eaten a bite of anything for the last ten going on eleven days. The last thing they had to eat was a rabbit they had hunted down and prepared over a fire.

Which was ten, going on eleven days ago, so course the rabbit had long ago been digested in their bellies. Without having anything to eat in so long, they could both feel the impact of this on their bodies. As their stomachs growled from the extreme hunger they felt and their bodies protested the lack of food by them losing a couple of pounds each.

Water is what kept them going and alive, they still had water with them to prevent their bodies from completely collapsing. Yet, they knew they needed to find something to eat soon or their bodies would eventually give out.

Which was why in they were now walking down a road in the most southern parts of North Carolina searching for food. This was a rural road of the state, so the houses weren't a plentiful. But, they came across a handful of them and had searched through each of them in hopes of finding the food they were so desperate to find.

They searched high and low through each of these houses, yet kept coming up short and empty handed. After they had looked through the fifth house in a row with zero results, they stepped out into the cool North Carolina air.

"Nothing, what about you?" Bonnie questioned to Damon hoping he had found anything at all to eat.

"Sorry, I turned up nothing." Damon spoke off the last house they had rummaged through. "Couldn't come up with what we needed either."

"Fuck, Damn it." Bonnie expressed exasperated with the situation.

"Tell me about it." A frustrated Damon know exactly how she was feeling.

Bonnie kicked a rock on the ground, watched as it skipped several feet away from her. "Why can't we find something to eat."

Damon scowled. "Symptoms of the post apocalyptic world, it fucking sucks I know."

Bonnie shook her head. "Yeah, I know all about the reason why we haven't found food, I'm aware of the whole food storage situation. Just that we've managed to always find what we needed to in order to feed us. And we have gone all of this time without finding anything at all."

He understood where she was coming from completely. "True, I don't think we've ever gone as long as nearly eleven days without a bite to eat."

"Longest we've ever went without a single food source is a handful of days, I believe." Bonnie said.

"Correct." He confirmed.

"I would just give whatever I could for a few bites of edible food right now."

"So, would I."

Bonnie who was disappointed on how their efforts have come up so recently short stated. "I'm so freaking hungry."

Damon went with a frown. "Me too, I wish our luck wasn't so shitty as of late."

She rubbed at her forehead. "So, what do we do now?"

He shrugged. "Nothing else we can do except for keep searching for what we need and not to stop searching until we find what we need to feed us."

"You're right, we don't have much of a choice other than to keep going, if we still aren't able to find non perishable food items, hopefully we'll find an animal to hunt at least." Bonnie sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure something will come up soon, we'll just have to keep fighting and grinding." He assured.

"Yes, we didn't make it this far without having to fight and grind." Bonnie took on encouragement, despite the factor of the lack of food having her feel somewhat cranky. "We can't give up, we'll have to keep going."

"Never give up." He fully agreed.

Which earned a half smile from her behalf despite the situation.

Damon made a gesture in the direction ahead of them. "Let's keep going, we have to luck out hopefully."

She nodded, then the two of them proceeded to walk down the North Carolina rural road for a little while longer. About an hour later they still hadn't found much. But, they did come across an four way intersection. All of the roads were paved. And they stood in the middle of the intersection looking in all of the directions of the roads, with the exception of the direction they had just came from.

"Which way to go?" He asked her as he had his hands in his pockets.

"Um, good question." Bonnie mentioned as her eyes scanned the roads around them.

"One step in the right or wrong direction could be the difference in whether or not we find food." Damon pointed out.

"You do have a point there." Bonnie commented.

Damon whistled out. "What to do, what to do."

Bonnie suggested. "We've been going straight for a while, haven't find what we needed, so perhaps we should go left or right."

His eyes scanned the road right in front of them, all he could see was road and empty lands, no houses within eyesight. "Yeah, maybe turning left or right will work out for the best of us."

"Then which way should we go?" Her arms stretched out to either direction to imply both ways.

"Go down the left road or right road." Damon pondered turning his hand in both directions as he spoke. "You choose."

"What why do you choose? I trust your discretion."

"Well, I was going to go whichever way you picked."

So, they stood there for about five minutes, wondering which road they should take. Picking the correct road could have very well been the difference between them eating soon or not. Which was way neither of them could exactly decide. The wrong direction and they would strike out.

Then Damon put in after a while of them just standing there. "I have an idea."

She reached into her pocket, pulled out some gloves, put the gloves on to protect her hands from the cold. "Which would be?"

"A coin flip."

"A coin flip?"

"Since we can't decide on which way to go why don't we have a coin to decide for us?"

"You believe on fate should rest on a coin?" A creased formed in her brow.

An arch formed in his. "Have a better idea?"

She pursed her lips. "No, I don't let's flip a coin, guess it couldn't hurt to try."

He dug a coin out of his pocket, which was one of those rare types of coins the US treasury department had made. Of course it was useless now since money could no longer buy things in the current world. Still he held onto it because it was so neat to have.

"Heads we go right." Said Damon.

"Tails we go left." Said Bonnie.

Flipping the coin in the air, he let it fall to the ground. The both of them looked down at the coin to see what side it had landed on.

"Tails." Bonnie pointed out for the side which was facing upward.

"Alright, you called it, down the left road we go." Pronounced Damon.

She uttered. "We could always turn around and back if we don't find what we need to find."

He mumbled. "Yeah, we'll see what the left road provides and it we don't find something, I would say another an hour, we could turn back and try to see if we can find some food down the right road."

She flexed her gloved fingers. "Sounds like a plan."

So, Damon picked up his coin from the ground, pocketed it and the two of them turned proceeded to turn on the left road, walking down it. For the first ten minutes they walked down this direction of the road, they found nothing. So, they continued down it. Ten minutes later they started to see a small group of houses down the way, a little off into the distance. From where they were, it was about an walk of an addition fifthteen more minutes before they could reach that particular group of houses.

Figuring these houses were abandoned like most in the nation were, they began to head towards them, hoping for better luck in finding something in them that they had failed to find in the last ten days.

However, when they took just a couple of steps forward, they heard something that caused them to stop in their tracks.

"You hear that?" They asked a the exact same time as they looked at each other.

"Yes, I heard it." Bonnie was answered their question.

"Something's near." Damon stated under his breath.

Sure enough there was a time tale sign of a noise, which told them they weren't alone. And that whatever they weren't alone with was alive. And this thing which was alive was within very close distance of them.

They strained their ears to center in on just what it was and the noise they had hard the first time, made another sound. And it was clear this thing was an animal. Yet, it wasn't just any animal if was a….

"Donkey?" Damon spoke of the animal sound. "Is that a donkey."

"I believe it is a donkey." Bonnie replied. Wasn't like either of them had seen many donkeys in their life times, yet the sound of the particular species of animal was so unique that anyone could identify the animal from the sound.

Remaining standing where they were, they looked around to see where this donkey was coming from. The animal honked softly once more, coming in the direction of their right and slightly behind them. At the same time, they turned around behind themselves, then looked in the direction of where the animal was coming from.

Sure enough, what they heard was confirmed to them when they saw a donkey a few feet away from them, the donkey let out a soft, relaxed honk in their direction. And immediately they understood that the donkey wasn't alone. This donkey apparently had an owner.

On the edge of the road they had been walking down now for the last twenty minutes, was a narrow dirt driveway which extended back from the main road a good ways. Either they had bypassed the dirt driveway completely without noticing it or they were so laser focused on getting to the small group of houses they had spotted in the distance, which made them not pay any sign to this particular dirt driveway.

Whatever the case, they weren't alone, neither was the donkey alone. Because standing next to the donkey on the dirt driveway was an very old elderly woman, who stood frozen to the spot, eyeing the pair of them down with the eagle eye.

The two of them studied this elderly woman's appearance. She appeared to be at least in her mid seventies, if not older. She was a black woman, of dark skin, skin which was wrinkled some with age, yet was still smooth on the majority of the surface of her skin. This elderly woman, who was thin almost to the point of looking frail, was tiny in structure.

Her height, barely reached five feet. Her hair was a flattering grayish white, and she wore a grey sweat suit, with a jacket over the top to keep her warm from the cold weather. For an half a minute. There was silence hanging in the air.

Damon and Bonnie was completely caught off guard by seeing her there, because she must have been so quiet for them not to notice her so near them. And they were usually the ones who was extra heightened about their surroundings to see something or someone coming towards or near them.

This old black lady spoke in a voice that was surprisingly strong for her size being so tiny. "Who are you two?"

"Um, hi, we're just travelers, who are making our way through this area." Bonnie was the first to speak to the old woman.

"Uh, yeah we're just traveling through here, trying to rummage to see if we can find anything useful to us. We're not here to hurt you or cause any harm to you." Damon told the old woman, just in case she got the wrong impression of him and Bonnie.

"No need, I can sense when people are trouble or not. And my sense tells me you folks are safe, so I won't have to worry about my safety around you at all." The old woman stated.

The two of them exchanged glances, wondering how this woman had the instinct to know such a thing about them.

Her eagle eyes shifted between the young pair of them. "What brings you around this particular area?"

"We were just trying to come through this direction to search for some items of need, that's all." Damon made sure to keep his tone non threatening, she didn't appear to be afraid of him or worried that him and Bonnie would cause her harm in some way. He just wanted to keep it in such a way, even while having no idea who this old woman was or where she had come from.

Adjusting the beanie hat on her head, Bonnie added towards the elderly woman. "We'll just keep heading in the direction we were heading in, we'll get out of your way, so you won't have to worry about us."

"Right, we'll just move out of your way, don't mind us at all." Damon went along with Bonnie.

However, the old black lady held up her hand to prevent them from walking away or moving further from her. "Now just wait."

Neither Bonnie nor Damon moved another step, they stopped and looked over at this old elderly woman, unsure of who she was or what she suddenly wanted from them.

"The both of you look worse for the wear." She voiced in a way a concerned person might when they suspected another person was struggling in some fashion.

The young couple said nothing to this, instead sharing yet another glance of curiosity with slight confusion.

"I'm old enough, plus observant enough to know the signs of people struggling through something. And I would say you both are struggling through something." The old black lady was laser focused on them.

"There's no need to worry about us, Miss. We can handle ourselves." Was all Damon could come up with to say.

"Are you two in some sort of trouble?" This old black lady questioned them as if she was an investigator trying to uncover some information for an important case.

"I, We...um…." With his mind coming up blank with how exactly to speak to or address the elderly woman, Damon cut off his own self on what he was about to say.

This old black woman pursed her lips in the way in which old women tended to purse their lips. "Are you shy or something?"

Shaking his head, Damon shifted on his feet. "Not at all."

Clearing her throat, Bonnie put in. "We just haven't seen a lot of strangers or other people as of late, so we're not one hundred percent sure on how to react or what to do."

The old black lady seemed slightly amused by the demeanor and presence of the two young people before her. "Promise the both of you, I don't bite."

Bonnie could only offer the woman her attempt at an friendly smile.

"Seems you two maybe struggling some in some sort of way, I'm correct as I said I know these things." The old black lady implied firmly.

"I guess you could say that." Bonnie commented, only because this elderly woman didn't seem like she was going to drop the particular subject until it was addressed like she wanted it to be addressed.

"So then, just as I know. You're struggling with food." She guessed after observing the appearance of them. "Y'all are struggling with being without food for a while, that's it, you've got the haven't eaten in a while look about you, the both of you do."

Pausing in wondering how this old, elderly woman could have been so spot on about him and Bonnie, just by viewing them through their eyes, Damon went to say. "We are, but…"

This old black lady interrupted what he was about to say. "Y'all need to get some food into you, among other things I can tell you might need….I tell you what, why don't you both come with me and I'll care take care of your hunger."

Bonnie enunciated. "We're not asking you to take care of our hunger for us, we couldn't ask you to do that, we've got ourselves handled on that front."

"No, Child, you didn't ask me. I'm telling you I can be the one to take care of your hunger, then I can be the one to feed you both."

The tone of voice, along with the demeanor from this old black lady as she said this, made Bonnie nearly arch a brow, while small in structure, this old lady sure did seem to have some fierceness and fight about her.

""We mean is, we were just searching through here for our own sources of food, we don't have to take food from any person, as long as we came get something of our own to eat. Just as we've done before, we've searched for food and manage to find it before. We're just attempting to take care of ourselves." Damon explained politely to this old woman.

"You could try searching all over this area for something to eat, but I'll tell y'all now, it would just be a waste of time, y'all must have not found what you needed to as of late, as you two are quite worse for the wear." Her eagle eyed look returned as she studied them both.

And they both knew, for however she guessed that she had a point, they weren't at all recently successful at finding a substantial source of food to put into their mouths.

This old black lady additionilized. "As I said, you could try, but you won't find something of use in the eating department no where around here, whatever was edible around here was picked through, taken or eaten a long time ago. Trust me when I say this to you, as I've been around here for a while now.

"Your best bet is to come with me so I can feed y'all." She stated through a keen tone.

Damon said nothing, as he wasn't exactly sure what decision to make, this elderly person offering them some of her food was almost too good to be true, yet still..

Said Bonnie. "We wouldn't want to be of any sort of trouble for you."

"And you won't be. I'm offering this to you, there's no need for you to be hungry if there is food available." This old black lady insisted.

"No, it isn't." On this which Bonnie agreed with the woman.

"Then come on, follow me to my home, just a little down this driveway." She gestured towards the dirt road she was standing on. "You just come on and I'll feed you."

"Well…" Bonnie dragged out.

The old elderly black woman pressed. "Well, will you let me feed you or not?"

Bonnie considered what this woman was offering to them. They had gone over a week without food, which risked dragging out to an eleventh day without food, they could very well just proceed further down the road to the small group of houses her and Damon were headed in before this old woman let her presence be known.

Yet, she had told them there was nothing they would find, at least not in the category of something edible to eat or something that would give their bodies the nutrition they had been missing out on the last days, and since this old woman appeared to be a resident of this area, Bonnie believe her when she said there wasn't any other option for food around, besides what this old woman was offering to her and Damon.

Just as she considered this, there was something in which greatly assisted in Bonnie's decision about the old woman's offer. Which was her stomach rumbling, complaining about the lack of being fed in the recent days.

"So?" This old black lady was waiting for an answer.

"Yes, of course, if you're volunteering to feed us, then we will gladly accept whatever it is you have to offer to us." Bonnie quickly answered for both her and Damon.

"Smart of you, it's the common sense thing to do." The old black lady muttered.

"Such a generous thing for you to offer under these circumstances. So, very grateful!" Bonnie stated relieved. After their food situation had looked so bleak, she was just relieved this old woman had appeared to her and Damon to end the struggles they had been going through for the past several days.

This old black lady patted her donkey, who was standing there this entire time, calmly taking it all that was going on around it between these two people and it's owner. "As I said, follow me and I'll take good care of y'all."

Bonnie nodded kindly. "Okay, we'll follow you to your home."

The old black lady signaled for them to follow. "Just down this dirt driveway."

Just as Bonnie was about to follow the old woman done the road, she turned to Damon to see him standing in the same spot he had been standing in through their whole conservation with the elderly woman.

"Damon, isn't this turn of circumstances just great!" Bonnie expressed with her mood now lifted.

"Um, yeah, I guess?"

"You guess?" Bonnie took notice of him seeming to hesitate with the developments that just happened. "What could possibly be wrong?"

He hesitated. "You sure this would be for the best….just to go along."

Bonnie was perplexed. "It's for the best, isn't this the luck out you hoped we would get, you know to end our food shortage situation."

He admitted. "Right, I did hope we would luck out in ending our food storage situation soon, it appears we might have. And if this lady is telling the truth then thank for heavens for us both, on the other hand."

"On the other hand what?" Bonnie cocked her head to the side.

"Not saying she is up to an bad deed or anything." He lowered his voice for only Bonnie to hear, since he didn't want to offended the elderly lady with what he was about to say next. "You know we haven't had the most positive run in with the people we've come across in our journey."

"What are you saying we have reason to be suspicious of her intentions?" Bonnie too lowered her voice so only Damon could hear her.

Damon frowned. "No, not exactly, I don't know, you know the last time some strangers volunteered to take us in and take care of us….which just turned out down right awful to the point of nearly costing us our lives."

Bonnie knew he was speaking of their time back at the Parker Village. At this point and time, the events of the Parker Villiage had now happened months ago. Yet, it was still fresh enough in both of their minds for them to always have their guards up around any strange people they didn't know, outside of the settlement in Virginia they were trying to reach.

And it was true, the Parker Family did manage to con them in with the act of being friendly people, who just wanted to show some hospitality to them as they were passing through next to the Louisiana village. Trusting them had nearly caused her and Damon to lose their lives or be at serious risk of having severe bodily harm caused to them.

Still, despite what had happened months ago, Bonnie was completely at ease when it came to trusting the elderly black lady before them who had offered them some relief from their hunger.

"Don't tell me you believe she could be dangerous or we have some reason to fear this situation." Bonnie was in slight amusement by this notion from her guy. "I mean come on, she's an old woman with a donkey here."

"No, of course not, I don't actually believe the old lady is dangerous or we have something to fear from her." Damon shook his head as he attempted to collect his thoughts on the matter.

"Then let's just follow her to see what she has to offer us, this is the break we need." Bonnie prompted to him.

Once he had collected his thoughts on the matter, Damon knew there was good reason for them to always keep their guard up. But, he knew that in this particular situation he would be practicing way too much caution, if he turned away from what the old lady was offering them, just because a group of sick and twisted cannibals had deceived him and Bonnie into a false sense of trust for their sick and heinous plans.

However, this elderly woman, for whoever she was, surely wasn't them or any of the bad people they had ran across who tried to kill them during their journey across America. She was her own individual person, who was harmless and seemed to truly and honestly want to help him and Bonnie out of the goodness of her heart. So, Damon also knew him worrying about this old lady being any type of serious threat to him and Bonnie,would just be jumping into paranoia at that point.

"You're absolutely right, I'm sure she's safe and we would be safe around her, plus it would be pretty silly of me to be extra cautious of an harmless old woman, wouldn't it? Making me look really off kilter and paranoid." Said Damon.

"Exactly, there may be lots of bad people out there, but there's still good people out there as well. And she is one of the good ones, I'm sure of it." Bonnie gave a head nod of acknowledgment in the direction of where the old black lady was.

"Again, you're correct, There's good willed and good hearted people out there, we shouldn't let the bad ones defer us from the good ones." Damon uttered.

"Absolutely not." Bonnie completely concurred.

Damon's lips curved upward. "Just like we'll have a chance to meet up we and get to know plenty of good willed and good hearted people in the Anex Settlement."

Bonnie gave him a smile. "Yep, we've just been presented with an opportunity to meet an good natured person before we even expected to. This is a perfect chance to get some practice in being around good natured people, if we accepted this offer from the old woman over there. So, what this being said, you agree with me on seeing what she may have for us, don't you?"

Studying the situation for what it was, Damon saw this as the absolute best opportunity he and Bonnie had to get their hands on some food, for the first time in ten, going on eleven days. He also could see that there might be little chance that he and Bonnie would find any substance close to ebiable in the area, and to risk turning this old lady on her offers of food, would be a foolish one for him to make, which would leave him and Bonnie starving if he didn't take it. This was the best shot they could have at receiving some food for a while.

Then there was also the factor of his empty stomach, which was so empty, it felt hollow inside from the lack of having something to eat the last days. So, this is what drove Damon to say. "I agree with you there, Bon, this is too great of an opportunity to pass up, so yes we should she what the lady has for us."

"Good!" Was Bonnie's response.

Meanwhile, during the short conversation between the two of them and the matter they had just discussed, the old black lady who was walking down the dirt driveway with her donkey, stopped in her tracks and turned around when she noticed they weren't following her.

"Well, are y'all coming to let me feed you, are you not?" This old black lady asked them from where she was.

"Yes, we're coming, we're going to let you feed us." Damon called out to the old lady.

"Smart young man." This old lady directed at him.

Damon directed at her in his nice manner tone, the type a younger person would use when showing respect to an older person or elderly person. "We're thankful to you for offering us food, might not have known what to do if you hadn't come along like this. Especially knowing how hard food is to come by these days, your taking of a precious source from yourself to help give to us."

This old black lady shrugged. "I have plenty of food for three people to eat. I can feed you both and still have plenty for myself, so I don't mind."

Bonnie put in. ""Still, this is so kind for you to offer some of your food to us, even if you do have plenty. We're just very thankful for sharing some of what you have with us when we needed it the most, So, Thank you."

"Yeah, Thank you, Ma'am." Damon emphasised his thankfulness.

"You're very welcomed, the both of you."

The pair of the gave her a gesture of acknowledgment upon those words.

Then she eyed them much like a grandmother who eyed her grandchildren or younger people in general who needed a good meal or a deal of help of some kind. The type of grandmother who would insist a hungry grandchild ate or had a good meal.

So, this grandmotherly instinct of her carried over towards these two young travelers see saw before her.

She added in a kind tone. "When I see a person in need, it's just my nature to help them. I just can't let someone linger on without doing by best to help. Especially if they're hungry, my nature all of my life has been to feed the hungry. So, I'm glad to have the chance to feed you, even if I don't know you. It helps me sleep better at night to know it."

"We appreciate it." Said Bonnie towards her.

"Samantha." This old black lady said.

"Pardon us?" Questioned Damon.

"Samantha." This old black lady mentioned. "That's my name, Samantha."

Damon and Bonnie returned at the same time. "Hello, Samantha."

Samantha patted her donkey who was currently standing right next to her once more. "Since you're coming into my home, I guess it's best for me to tell y'all my name and for you to tell me yours."

Bonnie greeted. "I'm Bonnie."

"And you young man?" Samantha asked of Damon.

"Damon, Damon is the name." Damon introduced politely.

"Bonnie, Damon…." Samantha gave them a sweet grandmotherly smile. "I'm a woman of the Christian faith, something tells me God must have sent y'all my way because he knew you were in need of help and knew I would do it."

Damon and Bonnie glanced at each other with a shared smile, said at the same time. "He must have!"

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

The pair of them followed Samatha down the long dirt driveway, as she pulled the donkey along with her by it's reigns. Soon, a house came into view, which appeared to be the home she was speaking of leading them to so that she could feed them.

This house was a single story brick house, with smoke billowing out of the chimney, which was a symbol of some sort of fire burning from within the house to keep it warm. As they approached closer to the home, they could see the outside bricks of the house was faded from red to more of a brownish color, Along with some of the bricks having some cracks in them. Which showed the house was a several decades old.

Despite its age, however it was a solidly built house, which provided a sturdy place to occupy or live in. Next to the house was a garage, which was set up as sort of a stable, big enough for a horse to stay in. And since a donkey was smaller than a horse, Samatha's donkey had more than enough room to live inside of the garage.

Samantha placed her donkey inside of the stable garage to give it some warming shelter from the cold, then proceeded to turn towards the front door of the single story house. Standing behind her, Damon and Bonnie waited as she opened the door to her home.

"Welcome to my home." Samantha waved a hand, before stepping inside of the house.

The pair of them stepped inside of the house and was immediately hit with the core warming heat, that only a wood burning sort of fire could provide. As the door closed behind them, the both of them took a chance to look around this old woman's home.

First thing they noticed upon their observation of this house was how it looked smaller from the inside than it appeared from the outside. With the rooms being more compact and closer together. There were just about five rooms total in this house, with the first room they walked into when they came in being the living room area.

Around the living room, there were nit nack types of decorations, along with old furniture. Yet, although the house was compacted, with nit nack decorations and old furniture, the obvious thing which stood out was how clean the house was.

There wasn't a speck of dust, dirt, or messiness around. Everything was neat and tidy. Which proved that even in old age, Samantha was the type of woman who put a lot of effort into keeping a clean house.

And in the corner of the living room, was one of those wood burning Englander heating stoves, which was burning and going strong. And which explained the smoke coming out of the chimney, as this was what Samatha used to warm her home in the winter time.

"Y'all make yourselves comfortable and right at home." Samantha spoke up bringing their attention to her, as she took off her jacket hang it up on the hanger, then slid her well worn sneakers off of her feet. "Also take off your shoes please."

As she was the type of person who preferred people not to wear shoes all around her house.

So, Damon and Bonnie followed her suit, they placed down their bags on the floor next to the couch, un holstered their weapons, which Samatha made no mention of as she watched them do this, Bonnie took off her jacket and Damon took up his coat, with them hanging their outer wear up. Then they took off the boots they both were wearing. As Damon had Brooklyn Boot Men's shoes colored in brown, while Bonnie had black Arizona Jean Co combat style boots.

Once they had completed making themselves more comfortable and therefore more at home like Samantha requested of them, the next thing they took notice of was the scent of the entire home. She had the home smelling like an appealing scent of cinnamon, combined with another even more appealing scent to the nose.

Which was the heavenly sent scent of the aroma of food cooking. The kind of delicious aromas which made a person's stomach growl and their mouth water in anticipation of tasting what was cooking. Damon and Bonnie had no idea what exactly was cooking, but it was clear from the scent of it on how the food would be quite tasty for anyone to eat. And for them, who hadn't had anything of substance for the past ten days, smelling the food, was like a person seeing a body of fresh drinking water after days of walking in a hot, dry desert.

"Come on into the kitchen, where I can feed you." Samantha gestured in the direction of where her kitchen was, before heading into that direction.

Damon and Bonnie gave each other quick high fives of relief before heading into the kitchen.

The kitchen was as speckless, clean and tidy as the living room area was. There was a handful of cabinets where Samatha must had used to store all of her kitchen related items. There was a round table seated for four. There was a two sectioned sink and over the sink there was a window which overlooked the backyard.

Yet, the most interesting part of the kitchen was the stove, as it was an completely old fashioned type of stove. Not like the cooking stoves the pair of them had seen in the abandoned houses they had explored, stayed in or taken shelter in along the way of their travels. Those stoves were either electric or gas run stoves, which were completely useless due to the state of the world's infrustructures.

This stove, unlike those ones was completely old fashioned. As this stove, much like the heating Englander wood burning oven in the living room, was heated and worked by using wood. Wood which was placed in a dedicated part of the appliance at the bottom of the stove, then making the person have to light a fire with the wood.

And once the firewood was heated up with a fire, the fire would then he used to heat the stove, so the uprising heat would then allow the person using the appliance to cook. Out of all of the homes they had come across during the months, this was the first old fashioned stove which used wood as a method to heat it, either of them had ever seen.

Yet, for the two of them who had to rely on innovation and improvisation to survive and do things, they were quite impressed with what Samatha had managed to do. And now she was using the old fashioned cooking stove to prepare a meal, as if appeared she had been using it for a while from the looks of it.

"Have a seat." Samantha told them.

So, once again, the two of them did as she requested of them, taking a seat next to each other at the round table.

The aroma from which created the heavenly scent of food cooking, was revealed to be coming from a large pot that was on top of the stove. Samantha turned towards the stove to tend to whatever was cooking inside of the pot.

"Had this cooking for a couple of hours, that's how long it takes this particular recipe to get done." Samantha stirred whatever was in the pot with a large spoon. "Was almost done when I stepped outside for fresh air for a bit, luckily I did or else I might not have spotted y'all, meaning y'all might have gone without food until you were skin and bones."

"Smells wonderful." Bonnie commented, just glad that Samantha had stepped outside to run into them, or they would have missed out on smelling and eventually tasting whatever she was cooking up.

"Thank you, child." Samantha directed at Bonnie.

Rubbing his hands together, just relieved they were four enough to have met Samantha, Damon pondered. "Mind me asking what's in the pot which smells so wonderful."

Samantha continued to stir. "No, I don't mind. What's been cooking in the pot is soup."

"Soup!" Damon perked up. "Sounds good."

"Sure does." Bonnie fully agreed with her man.

"Oh, trust me it's very good. Ought to be especially good since you two seem to have been walking out in the cold for a while." Samantha stated.

"We have." Bonnie confirmed.

Samantha nodded. "Then soup is just what y'all need to warm you up some."

The both of them concurred with her on that.

Within minutes of more stirring of the soup in the pot. Samantha let them know the soup was done and how they were all ready to eat, much to their relief.

So, Samantha got out three bowls out of the cabinet, along with three small saucer plates. Using her big spoon, she spooned some of her soup into the three bowls. Then she got three pieces of unleavened bread out of the bread container, placing one piece of bread each on a plate for all three of them.

Then she proceeded to grab some soup spoons for each of the bowls, then carried over the bowls of soup, and the plates with the unleavened bread before Damon and Bonnie, giving them a bowl of soup and a plate of the bread each.

The aroma of the soup hit their noses and made their mouth water, as the steam rose from the hot soup. The two of them looked down at the soup to see what kind of soup it was. They saw a red tomato broth and in the broth was packed with vegetables of different varieties. Some from the summer and other more fall like vegetables. There was also grains which resembled barley. There wasn't any meat in the soup, yet it still looked and smelled incredible nonetheless.

Samantha took her own share of the soup and bread, joining them at the table. She sat down and eyed them, as they eyed her soup and unleavened bread.

"The soup is homemade." The older woman let the younger duo know. "Been a recipe of mine's since before the 'end of the world' came and everything was more normal in the sense of the word back then."

"Since before 'the world ended.' So, you've had this recipe for over thirty years then." Bonnie pointed out being curious.

"I sure did, as it's been a staple to keep me going in after electricity went down, I still found a way to make this soup, which helped sustain me a many times. Especially in the winter months. Recipe has never changed, all that's missing is the chicken I used to put into it when the before apocalypse world had meat and all of that stuff delivered to supermarkets." Samantha put in.

Damon added once again in his respecting elderly people tone. "Well, we understand why you don't have chicken available under the circumstances. And we're not going to complain about meatless soup when you are so generous to offer this to us hungry people."

Bonnie added. "Nope, won't complain about this meatless soup at all."

Samantha requested of them. "Just hold on a second while I say my grace."

And the pair of them respectfully did. As she was a woman who was strong of the Christian faith.

"Let's eat shall we." Samantha signaled to them once she had finished saying her grace.

"We shall!" Damon exclaimed.

Which caused Bonnie to let out a little chuckle towards him.

They picked up their spoons, spooned up some of the soup with the spoon. And they each brought the spoon to their mouths. Finally, for the first time in days, food hit their tongues.

Samantha held her spoon above her bowl of soup, but didn't yet eat hers. Instead she eyed the young pair as they tasted her homemade soup, like how a chef would watch other people taste a hard cooked meal, to see how their food was judged and viewed.

As soon as the soup hit their mouths, Damon and Bonnie's tongues were instantly impacted with an amazing bursts of flavors, deliciousness, and Umami. The flavors of the soup was so bursting and robust with flavor, that it put a lot of the foods they had tasted before to shame. With tastes so good it was hard to explain.

"Oh, my word!" Bonnie was the one to exclaim after she ate her first spoonful.

"So, you like it then?" Samantha wondered.

"This soup is excellent, incredible. I love it." Bonnie stated.

"Best food I've ever put into my mouth, I'm not just saying it to be nice either." Stated Damon with enthusiasm. "I've never tasted anything this yummy before, it darn spectacular."

Samantha beamed like a cook proud of their good cooking. "Then nothing much has changed, people who I'd fed with this soup, used to always tell me I had the best homemade soup around. But, I haven't fed anyone with it for a while. So, I was wondering if I had lost my touch."

Bonnie told her. "You've haven't lost your touch at all."

"Nope, not at all." Damon was in agreement with his lady love.

"You should try some of the bread as well." Samantha prompted.

So, they did, the two of two them picked up their bread off of the plate and bit into it. Much like the soup the bread was a burst of flavors. Which got compliments from both Damon and Bonnie.

"That's a flat version of cornbread." Samantha let them know. "I managed a trick to get it to work, even if some of the ingredients weren't available to me."

Damon chews and swallowed before speaking. "Cornbread, that's why it's yellow."

Samantha confirmed. "Yep, it's yellow from the cornbread I used to bake it with in the wood cooking stove."

Bonnie commented. "Well, it's delicious, just like your homemade soup is."

Speaking of said homemade soup, the pair of them really went to work on it. Spooning it up, scooping it up from the bowl with the spoons. Rapidly chowing it down, before quickly spooning up more. After all they haven't eaten in days, so this was the action of people getting some much needed food into their bodies.

Samantha who had ate a few spoonfuls of her own soup noticed them rapidly eating her homemade soup. She paused in the eating of her own soup to watch the two of them in amusement. There was an old joke that her folks would make if she, in her younger ages would eat food in a rapid manner as these two were doing.

Which was 'Slow down, the food isn't going anywhere'. But, she wouldn't make that joke towards these two as she understood the circumstances surrounding why they were doing it.

All at the same time, they noticed how Samantha was watching as they were wolfing down the soup.

"Our bad, hope there's no offense to eating like this." Damon commented after eating a bite of bread.

"We're sorry, hope we didn't come off as rude." Bonnie wiped her mouth on the handkerchief provided for them to wipe their mouths and hands on as they ate.

"Please, neither of you have a thing to be sorry for." Samantha waved a hand. "I know under the circumstances how hungry y'all are."

"Correct, we're starving." Bonnie admitted.

Samantha began to eat her own bowl of soup again. "There's a whole big pot, so y'all are welcome to as much as you want until you get full."

Bonnie chewed her piece of cornbread. "In that case, I'm sure I'll have more, what about you Damon."

He voiced. "I'll be sure to get seconds then too."

Samantha reached for a towel, wiped her hands. "Help yourselves when your ready."

Soon, the first bowl of soup either of them had eaten was gone. So, Bonnie made a move to get up to get more.

"I've got it, Bon Bon." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks, Damon." Bonnie directed at him.

"You're very welcome." Damon gave her a grin, before he got up. He took their empty bowls over to the stove. Used the big spoon to full them both up with more piping hot soup. Then carried the bowls back over to the table.

He sat one bowl in front of Bonnie, the other bowl in front of himself and took his seat next to Bonnie.

Bonnie gave him a grin, before proceeding to eat her soup.

Then Damon proceeded to eat his.

As they worked on their second bowl of soup, once again Samantha was proud of her cooking skills.

"I really put my foot into that." Samantha boosted.

"You what?" Damon furrowed a brow.

"Just means she really did an excellent job at preparing the meal." Bonnie hinted to him.

"Oh." He muttered.

Samantha arched her brow at him. "You don't know a figure of speech, Damon?"

He pressed his lips. "Oh, I know lots of metaphors, that just wasn't one of them until now."

Samantha chuckled a little. "Then I guess we learn something new everyday."

The three of them ate the homemade soup and the flattened cornbread in silence for a few minutes. Samantha got up to get another piece of the cornbread for herself, once she had finished her first piece.

"Where did you get all of the vegetables for this soup, Ma'am?" Damon questioned towards the older woman in the room.

"Please, call me Samantha, it's nice that you're being so respectful, yet I prefer for folks to call be Samantha over Ma'am. Makes me feel a little younger." Samantha proclaimed.

"Okay, Samantha, where did you get all of the vegetables for this wonder soup, it's packed with the stuff. Do you have a big storage of canned vegetables collected in here?" Wondered a curious Damon.

"I know that finding canned foods all around is one of the things those left on this earth does to try and eat. Just as you two must have been doing when I found you searching around in this area. Y'all were searching for canned food from being hungry." Samantha guessed.

Bonnie spooned up more of her second bowl of soup. "Among other things, we were just searching and hoping to discover canned foods or some sort of non perishable, shelf stable, foods. Which was often difficult for us to come by on our travels, but recently we ran into a very hard time finding canned foods or any sorts of non perishable, processed food at all."

Damon muttered. "Tell me about it, finding the canned stuff or non perishable stuff was always tough to come across, unless we lucked out, yet our luck ran out before we were lucky enough to happen to come across this place."

Samantha nodded once more. "Being around right after the apocalypse, during the first weeks and months afterwards, canned foods of all kinds was how I and my loved ones survived from going hungry, It's how many survived, before food companies got hit with all of the natural disasters and could no longer produce and distribute food on a mass scale.

"So, then the stores all over soon were out of all food, then it even canned foods eventually became much harder to come by, unless there were isolated areas where they were still stockpiles or not found yet. But, to answer your question, Damon, no this soup isn't made with canned vegetables."

"It isn't?" Damon wiped his mouth.

"It isn't." Answered Samantha.

"Then where did you get them from then?"

Samantha replied to him. "A place which is much better than getting them from canned, from my own garden."

Bonnie leaned forward a little. "Really?"

Samantha took her cup and sipped something out of it. "Really, I grow vegetables from my own garden, organic with no pesticides. Healthier and fresher than canned. Tastes better than canned too. Hard work to get it all done and for them to grow in the correct way, but it's worth it. Because I've been living off of feeding myself from the garden for years."

"Where is this garden of yours?"

"In the backyard." Samantha directed at Bonnie, since Bonnie was the one to ask the last question. "Just big enough where I can grow different sorts of vegetables throughout the growing season. I grow enough different varieties so I don't get bored or tired of eating the same thing all of the time. Most of my diet consists of plant based food among other things."

"Growing your own plants." Damon said. "An guaranteed way to feed yourself in times like these."

"Right, learning how to grow your own plant based food would be useful in surviving." Delivered Bonnie.

"Yes, as it worked out so well for me." Stated Samantha.

Damon finished off his second bowl of soup.

Samantha looked over at him. "Want a third bowl?"

Damon shook his head. "No, surprisingly, I'm almost full. I could use another slice of the cornbread though." As the bowls they were eating out of were bigger than the average sized eating bowl, he got fuller faster than he expected to.

Samantha reached over, grabbed the container filled with unleavened cornbread. She placed it in the middle of the table.

"Help yourselves to all you can eat." Samantha elicited.

Taking two pieces of the unleavened corn style bread, Damon handed one over to Bonnie, while keeping a piece for himself.

"Thanks." Said Bonnie.

"You're welcome." Returned Damon.

Bonnie took the piece of bread, dipped it into the soup she had remaining and ate it.

"So, you sustain yourself mostly on your own stuff you grow." Damon put towards Samantha.

"I do. As I was saying, I grow all different varieties of vegetables. I use my donkey I have out there to help assist me to plow and tend to the soil to prep it for growing. He does so by pulling along one of those plowing tools you can hook up to an animal like horses, cattle or such..

Samantha explained to them and enjoyed explaining the process of growing food to them, as the young pair of them seemed to honestly be interested in what she had to tell them. And she had enjoyment is sharing with them her standard of living and way of life during these times.

Samantha went on with her explanation. "...Once the soil is ready, I plant the seeds into the ground, sectioning the vegetables off by each variety they are. Make sure to water them. The kind of plants I grow depends on what season it is for the specific vegetable. Then once they are in season and ready to eat. I pick enough to feed me at the time. Then make sure to grow enough to harvest the rest. So, I can and seal them into mason jars using an old fashioned tactic. So, when the fall and winter time comes, I have enough in the mason jars to tide me over, until it gets warm again where I can start the process of growing what's needed in my garden all over again."

The young couple ate their bread, as they had a shared fascination for this elderly lady before them. She may have been old, but she sure had all it took for a human to survive under the harsh circumstances of the world. And with the two of them being survivors themselves. They had to respect that.

"Everything in this soup is made from the vegetables I have grown this year. Even the tomato broth is from the tomatoes I grew when it was in season. Now, I do have spices with a long shelf life I have use to season what I cook. And I don't grow the barley that's in this soup. I have barley, dried pasta, cornmeal, and a little flour sealed off in some barrels to prevent them from rotting or going bad. But. this is all how I just feed myself through the year." Samantha finished.

"Seems like you have developed an expertise in surviving with feeding yourself. And because of it, you never are at risk at going hungry. You've just earned a ton of my respect, not that I didn't respect you already." Commented Damon, sincerely having respect for Samantha.

"Right, I'm very impressed with you too, Samantha." Bonnie vocalized.

Samantha returned. "Seems like y'all developed somewhat of an expertise at surviving since you've managed to live this long."

Damon bit into his bread. "Guess you could say that."

Samantha folded her hands in front of her. "All I did was adjusted to do what I needed to do in order to live, otherwise I knew I would have been dead a long time ago."

Bonnie mentioned. "So, I'm guessing we're the first visitors you have had."

"Both of you are the first two human faces I have seen in over two years, longer than that if I didn't count the folks I didn't know." Samantha implied.

"Wow, so there's really no one else living around in this area besides yourself?" Asked Bonnie.

"Not another soul besides myself." Samantha shook her head.

Pondered Damon. "And you're sure there's no one else staying anywhere in this area besides yourself."

Directed Samantha. "Positive, as I've been around here long enough to know. Most of the people who were living around here, either died out over the last three decades or they left to go elsewhere in hopes of finding better chances at survival. So, I'm the only one around."

Damon nodded. "I believe you."

Samantha blow out a breath. "Yep, me was the only human around this parts, until y'all came along. But,, other then that, besides me, no other human is around for an radius of hundreds of miles."

"And you don't get lonely at all or feel alone by having no human contact at all?" Bonnie tilted her head.

"Nope, not at all. And for a lot of the time, it's best to avoid human contact, if the humans have ill will or ill intentions." Samantha uttered.

"True." Bonnie knew she and Damon knew the subject of ill willed humans better than anyone else.

Samantha pronounced. "Besides, even though I've haven't had human contact with anyone in these last few years, I wasn't always exactly alone. I told you how it has been some years since I last saw a human face that belonged to someone I did not know. However, when it comes to a person I did know, they did live here with me."

Damon brought up. "So, you do have another person living here with you."

Samantha have him a nod. "A man."

Bonnie looked around to see if she had missed any signs of a man living in the house. As it seemed like Samantha was the only one living here when her and Damon had came. Yet, Samantha just mentioning how she had a man living there, made Bonnie wonder if she had missed any signs.

"A man lives here with you? Didn't see anyone else around when we came in." Mentioned Bonnie.

"Yeah, where is this man, sure would like to met him." Damon was also looking around for any potential signs he missed of said man.

"You're mistaken. I used to have a man living here." Samantha corrected them. "But, he doesn't anymore."

"He doesn't?" Bonnie put in. "Where did he go if you don't mind letting us know."

Samantha shifted in her chair. "This particular man I speak of, well he's my husband or at least was my husband."

Bonnie made sure to understand. "So, you were married?"

Samantha confirmed. "Married for about sixty years."

"Whoa, that's a long time." Damon whistled.

"It is!" Samantha agreed.

"So, where did your husband go to then?" Damon wished to know.

The elderly Samantha replied in a calm manner. "He died about three years ago. Had to bury his body myself and give him a funeral, since I was the only one around and no one else could do it. So, I laid him to rest in a grave and that's where he is now, resting in peace."

Bonnie frowned. "So, sorry to hear that, sorry about the loss of your husband."

Damon sincerely added. "You have my condolences, must be a tough take to lose someone you love, then have to bury that person yourself."

Samantha templed her fingers. "Believe me, it's not at all easy to put someone you love into a grave."

The both of them gave her sympathetic expressions.

"And when he passed away, trust me I was sad and I did shed a few tears. But, losing my husband didn't cripple me emotionally like one might think it would. Reason for that being is because Jeremiah, his name, gave me many decades of happiness, togetherness, and love with him..

"Jeremiah gave me sixty wonderful, loving years of marriage, did all of his husbandly duties to make sure my needs got taken care of, even when the world turned tough. He was an loyal and honorable husband. And I was happy with him for the longest time. Got much more time than what a lot of people get with their loved ones these days, so I'm grateful for that."

They could hear the peaceful resolve in Samantha's voice, when she spoke of her life with her late husband Jeremiah.

"And I'm also grateful for Jeremiah living for a long as he did, lived to be over eighty years old, close to ninety. Which is a blessing, considering how many how died at a much younger age. People have also went in much nastier, more violent ways. Yet, my Jeremiah left this earth due to natural causes. And I know it was just his time with God to go, I know he's now in heaven, which is why I've made peace with his death." Samantha finished with her peaceful resolve.

"Well, I speak for us both when I say, even though we're still sorry for your loss. We are glad to learn how you have gotten such a long marriage and life to live with your husband, Jeremiah." Bonnie stated sincerely.

Next to her, Damon nodded in full agreement.

"Now, can I ask y'all something?" Samantha pondered.

"Go ahead." Was Damon's response.

Samantha transitioned from the subject of her husband, to what she wished to know about these two young people before. "You said you were travellers."

"Correct, we're travellers." Bonnie confirmed.

"Where are y'all from?"

"We're from out West." Was Bonnie's reply.

"All the way out West? You mean the Western United States?"

This time Damon replied. "Yes, we travelled here from the Western states of this country."

Samantha eyed them both. "Then you've come all the way here to the east coast from the west coast. How did you manage to get here from over the way over there?"

Damon told the elderly woman. "We've travelled, mostly on foot."

"Is that so?" An expression came over Samantha's face.

"Yep." Damon popped the p. "The majority of the time, we have been travelling on foot."

"In that case, must have taken y'all a while to get over here." Samantha sounded intrigued to learn of this.

Bonnie established. "We started this trip in May, so this means it has taken us about ten months in total to make it here to North Carolina."

Samantha was even more intrigued to learn more from them. "And what in the world would inspire you to walk on foot for ten months, from the West Coast to the East Coast. Where would you need to travel to that is obviously so important."

Damon started. "Well…."

"Well?"

"We have made our way over to the east coast for something important, because of having a particular goal in mind." Directed Bonnie to Samantha.

"And this goal would be?"

Damon and Bonnie exchanged a gaze, since they had discovered how the settlement in Virginia existed, they told no one else about it. And kept the secret between the two of them, in order to protect the people of Anex, as well as protect themselves. Knowing that the tape recording they had on them, along with the map could put them in grave danger, from anyone of ill will who wanted to get those things off of them.

They had managed to keep the secret safe for all of these months, even against the various foes and enemies they had ran into along the way. They knew that this secret shouldn't just be shared with anyone, for obvious reasons.

Yet, Samantha had taken them in, so she was clearly one of the good guys, who had fed them when they were most hungry. They could tell she was a woman with a good heart. So, therefore they decided with an non verbal agreement that they could trust her by telling her this secret.

This was why Damon signaled to Bonnie. "Go ahead."

Bonnie turned to Samantha. "The reason why we're travelling over here, why we have spent ten months making our way across the country, is because we have a incredibly important destination to reach up North. There's this very promising community…"

"A settlement in Virginia." Damon finished explaining. "Where the chances of surviving are said to be much higher. They have everything there needed to heighten a person's chances at surviving, along with a better standard of life, that's where were trying to get to, the place called…"

"Anex." Samantha interrupted him as soon as she recognized what the two of them were explaining.

"Wait…...you know what we're talking about?" Damon questioned after a pause.

"Yes, I do." Samantha answered.

Leaning forward, Bonnie held her voice just above a whisper. "So, you're aware of our destination existing?"

A gesturing Samantha pointed her finger in the air, as if to hint pointing in the North direction. "A settlement in Mystic Falls, Virginia that's surrounded by walls, has electricity, an abundance of food and a good life for all who live there, yes I know about it."

Bonnie and Damon did a double take in shock.

"How did you learn of this place?" Bonnie needed to know.

"Have my ways of finding out some things, won't tell you exactly how I know, but I just know." Samantha shrugged.

"So, you know Anex exists and know all that it is said to offer. But, you've never tried to make it there?" Bonnie observed.

Samantha shook her head. "No. I've haven't bothered to even go up to the community in Mystic Falls."

Damon studied Samantha. "What stopped you, I mean there's no doubt how you've built a impressive way to sustain yourself with food and all. And how you know how to survive for yourself. Still, Anex is somewhere that provides an higher quality of life for those who make it and live there. You wouldn't even have to grow your own food, because others grow it for you. And your life would be easier there, so what stopped you from going."

Samantha shrugged. "Just haven't been able to make it there for my own reasons. Although, I have known about this place for a couple of years now."

Questioned Bonnie. "Then how about going with the two of us, where going up that way. You'd could come up to Anex with us if you'd like to."

"Right, once Bonnie and I leave here to continue on our travels, you can leave to and go to Anex with us. Then you won't have to worry about as much any longer, because the community, in Virginia will take care of it all for you. You'd could come with us and they'll take care of you once you get there." Damon mumbled.

"Oh, I couldn't come with y'all." Samantha dismissed.

"Of course you could, you could even take your donkey along!" Damon exclaimed.

"Young man, I would just slow you down if I just went with you young folks." Samantha chuckled.

Damon said. "Going to take us a few more weeks to get there on foot anyway…."

Bonnie added. "So, we don't mind you coming with us at all, it's truly a better life."

Samantha stated. "With my old age, it would take me longer than a few weeks to walk on foot across all of North Carolina into Virginia, I would just slow y'all down and I don't want to do that."

Bonnie insisted in a respectful manner. "But, if we could somehow accommodate you to go along with us to Anex, so you wouldn't have to walk there all the way on foot, would you come with us for a chance to reach that settlement."

"No, Bonnie, I wouldn't." Samantha put in without even hesitating a second.

"You wouldn't….at all?" Bonnie was taken aback by this.

"No, I'm not interested in going with y'all to that settlement. Even when I learned about it a couple of years back, I wasn't interested in ever going there." Samantha answered her.

Both Damon and Bonnie looked surprised by his notion coming from her.

"I know you may be caught off guard to hear me tell you this." Samantha spoke upon seeing the surprise expression on their facial features. "And it maybe hard for you to believe, but while most folks would jump at the chance to take a trip to Anex for what it is and what it offers in this world, I'm not most people…

"I prefer to stay here. I'm rather contentful and peace living, in this house right here, this is my home and has been for years. The home in which I lived with my husband for years, him and me took it from nothing and made it into a true home. And after all of the work we put into it, I would never just leave it behind."

The two of them listened to what Samantha was saying to them.

Samantha went on with more of the resolve she showed before. "I'm contentful here, I'm happy here. And I always grow enough food to last me all year long. I'm fine here just by myself and with as old as I am, I wish to live however long I have remaining on this earth, peacefully here in this home. So, while it may be hard for some to believe, I'm not interested in joining y'all in going up to Anex."

Damon respectfully said. "You do seem well of here, so we'll leave you be if that's what you wish and trust you'll be alright to take care of yourself."

Samantha commented. "I can take care of myself. Nice of y'all to offer that to me, but I wish to live the rest of my life here in solitude."

Said Bonnie just as respectfully. "And we respect your decision, meant no offense by the offer to go with us."

"None taken, I do wish you both good luck on your journey to Anex, you're much younger than I am and once you make it there, I believe you'll be able to fully enjoy and live all it has to offer." Samantha pursed her lips. "Besides, even once y'all leave to keep on your travels North it won't be like I'm living here by myself."

"It won't be?" Bonnie cocked her head to the side.

"I have Walter here with me to keep me company."

Damon perplexed. "Who is Walter?"

Samantha's eyes lit up. "Walter is the name of my donkey out there."

Damon raised a brow in amusement. "You named your donkey."

"Of course I gave my donkey a name, people name their pets all of the time don't they!"

"Yeah, they do." Damon admitted.

"Walter keeps me great company, like an human child, except far less troublesome. He listens to what I have to say, follows my rules. And helps with the chores in the garden and outside of them house. Plus, he shows me the type of affection an pet shows to their owner, the same type a dog or a cat would show to their human owner. So, even without humans around, I'm not exactly lonely, because Walter keeps me company and brings life around this house!" Samantha emphasised with humor.

Bonnie expressed amused. "That Walter fellow sounds like quite the character."

Samantha laughed. "He is and then some."

This made both Damon and Bonnie laugh.

"Going to stay here with Walter for the rest of my days, a ninety five year old woman can't afford to walk the over hundreds of miles between here and Virginia."

Their mouths dropped open at the same time.

"You're ninety five." Damon gawked.

"Yes, I'm ninety five." Samantha confirmed.

"Whoa, you don't like ninety five." Damon vocalized.

Bonnie jumped in. "You don't look ninety five at all."

Samantha's eyes looked between them. "How old do y'all take me to be?"

Damon answered. "At least twenty five years younger."

"Around your early seventies, I would say." Bonnie replied.

"Thanks, I take that as a complete compliment." Samantha patted her grayish-white hair.

"What's your secret to looking twenty years younger, did you find some fountain of youth?" A questioning Damon had to know.

"What's my secret? You mean besides the fact that black doesn't crack."

Bonnie had to laugh at Samantha's comment, along with the humor in her tone as she said it.

Samantha chuckled again before saying. "If there was some sort of secret I had to looking twenty years younger than what I am, I would say it's me always keeping busy, staying working around the house doing chores inside and outside of it, always making sure I have something to do to keep me busy. Then I go for walks with my donkey, Walter out there…

"And perhaps me having a staple of a mostly vegetable or plant based diet might also have to do something with it. Then there is the wine I drink. So, all of that combined must help me look younger."

"You have wine!?." Damon perked up as if this was the best news he heard.

"I have a handful of bottles of wine left, I drink just one cup of wine per day. They say an apple per day keeps the doctor away. Guess for me it is the one cup of wine per day, as I feel younger than what I am!" Samantha expressed.

"Must be some seriously great wine then." Bonnie said.

"I'll say." Damon said.

Samantha returned. "Very great wine, would y'all like some?"

The pair of them exclaimed in unison. "We sure would!"

Samantha got up from the table and walked over to the cabinets. As she searched through them, she spoke to Damon and Bonnie.

"I'm ninety five, now in some ways, my age has caught up to me. Mostly with my memories, as I might have slight, but not severe dementia. Couldn't know for sure if that's the reason or if it is simply old age. But, my memory is impacted the most. Especially my long term memory at times. Some of my long term memory I have no problem remembering."

She got out a bottle of wine out of one of the cabinets and began looking through another cabinet.

"Then other long term memories I have trouble recalling. So, it usually takes a spark or a reminder of something familiar related to that particular memory for me to recall it. But, I don't always remember things of the bat. Yet, I guess I can't complain, as other than my memory, my health is very good for my age."

Once she got three cups out of the cabinet, she brought them and the bottle of wine over to the table. She opened the bottle of wine and poured three cups. "Here you go."

Bonnie and Damon each grabbed onto their cup of wine.

Samantha held up her cup. "Here's a toast to the two of you following along in my good health."

"To good health." Damon and Bonnie said in unison, clicking their cups to hers.

After an hour or so of enjoying wine with Samantha, Damon and Bonnie had taken note of just how many hours had passed by since they had been in Samantha's house. They figured it might be their time to leave.

Which was why Bonnie said. "Damon and I thank you for all you have done for us in feeding us, but we think it's our time to go."

"Y'all are leaving?" Samantha furrowed her brow.

"We appreciate the food...and wine, but figured we should head out on our travels before it gets too late in the day." Damon explained to her.

"Why should you have to go?" Samantha questioned.

"We just figured we should get going." Bonnie stated.

Samantha hinted. "I mean why should you have to go, when you have room here to stay?"

Bonnie returned. "We don't want to burden you with having you room us or anything, you've done enough by feeding us."

Samantha pondered to them. "Where do y'all plan on going from here."

Gestured, Damon. "Well, we would just leave here, then do what we usually have done. Which is walk until it gets dark and then we find a shelter to sleep it for the night."

"No need for you to have to leave to find shelter to stay for the night, when there's already one here I'm offering. It's going to get dark in about two hours, I already have the wood furnace burning to keep it toasty warm in here, as I'm sure temperatures will be low tonight. Doesn't it make more sense for y'all to just stay here, instead of venturing out."

"Yeah, it does." Said Bonnie.

"Then why should y'all leave here today?" Samantha shook her head. "I have plenty of room for y'all to stay. You should stay here a couple of days at least for rest, especially because of their being food here, then you can keep up on your travel afterwards. But, at least rest here for a day or two."

"We didn't want to overstay our welcome here with you." Said Damon.

"Or cause you trouble by feeding us more than you already have." Added Bonnie.

Samantha had a certain cadence to her voice that signaled how she meant business. "Nonsense, I know y'all don't want to put too much burden or trouble on me, but that's not what you're doing. I'm opening up my home to you of free will, because it's what I want to do. And like I said before, it's my nature to help out those in need..

She continued with that same cadence. "There's enough room for both of you to stay and enough room where each of you can sleep. Stay here for a day or two, matter of fact, I insist y'all are staying."

For the countless time since they arrived at this home, Damon and Bonnie exchanged a look. They could hear the no nonsense, take no shit, and take no mouth from anyone, tone in Samantha's voice. The type that grandma's would often use on their children or grandchildren to let them know that there was no point in debating or arguing, because they weren't going to win the debate. As the grandma had what it took to win the debate every single time.

And though neither of the two of them had grandmas, the both of them knew it was no use in denying Samantha, as they weren't going to win.

So, once again they said in unison. "We're staying."

"Good." A satisfied Samantha nodded. "Now since you're staying is there anything else y'all need?"

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Later that night, Damon and Bonnie were settled into one of the spare bedrooms Samantha had selected for them to stay in. This bedroom was about average sized. And had a twin bed and a dresser. And one window.

The two of them had retrieved their bags from the living room and had taken it into the bedroom, since Samantha had selected it for them to sleep in during the couple of days or so they would be staying here with her.

Since it had been a close to two weeks since either of them had been able to bathe, other than food, one of the other things they were in most need of was having a way to take a bath or shower. And they had wanted to find ways to take one, as they were always keen on keeping up with their hygiene as often as they could. Yet, once again in today's world being able to bathe every day was rare due to the circumstances.

As they had ran into such circumstances, it had been difficult for them to find a way to get a bath in, since they could not find a source of water big enough that would allow them to do so. So, because they were in need of it, they asked Samantha if there was any way for them to get clean. Then Samantha told them had she used an washing basin a few times a week to get her body clean and to keep herself clean.

When the two of them expressed to her their desire to get some sort of bathing in, she gave them an extra washing basin she had, she placed it into the room, where she had selected them to stay. And put the basin on a stand, then filled it up with warm water, almost to the brim so they would have plenty of water to wash up with. Then she filled up a smaller basin with more warm water and told them they could use it as well to help them wash up.

Once she had done that, she gave them instructions on how to use the bathroom, if they needed to use it, asked them if there was anything else they needed and when they told her they were all set, she let them know how she was going to retire to her bedroom for the night and how she would see them in the morning time.

After Samantha had retired to her bedroom, this left Damon and Bonnie in the selected spare bedroom alone with each other, they shut the door to this bedroom for privacy, even though they were sure Samantha was getting ready to go to her bed and perhaps sleep for the rest of the night.

With the large water basin filled with warm steaming water, they stripped out of their clothes until they were nude, using the fire lit oil lamps Samantha had in the room, to light up the room and see what they were doing.

They grabbed the washcloths, along with the soap Samantha had given them to wash up with and stepped up to the large basin on the stand, which came up to the midsection of their torsos, allowing them access to the warm water without having to bent down to get it. The basin wasn't big enough for them to get their bodies into. But, it was large enough where it was filled with enough water, that it allowed them to take a bathing at the same time.

Which was what they decided to do, Bonnie stood on one side, Damon stood on the other side, so that they were facing each other.

Bonnie dipped her washcloth into the warm water, first she ran the washcloth along her face before she would start to work on washing the rest of her body.

Damon too cleaned his face with his washcloth.

Then Bonnie dipped her washcloth in the water on to get it soaked, she took the soap and lathered up some scuds on the washcloth. And ran the soapy washcloth over her collarbone.

"Man, that feels good." Bonnie sighed.

"Yeah?" Damon was lathering up soap on his own washcloth.

"Yeah, for the first time soap or water has touched my skin in a couple of weeks, it feels great."

"Hmmm, has been a while since we last took any sort of wash up, but not too overly long."

She observed her man apply his soapy washcloth to his chest. "Yes, but long enough where a stench may have started to work up in us."

He observed his woman as she applied her wash cloth to her shoulders. "Right, good thing we found this place didn't we."

She agreed. "Very good thing."

Damon ran his washcloth along the area around his neck. "That Samantha is quite the character isn't she."

"And how would you judge Miss. Samantha's character?" Bonnie pondered, as she dipped her washcloth in the water, then added more soap to it.

""Would judge Miss. Samantha as a woman with very high-spirits and a excellent sense of humor which makes me like her a lot." Stated Damon.

"She's a high spirited woman, who not only had an excellent sense of humor, but she is totally sweet, kind, caring, and compassionate." Bonnie stated.

Damon muttered. "Completely agree."

Bonnie mentioned. "Lucky for us, we managed to come across her, or else we could very likely still be starving by now."

Damon soaped up his washcloth some more. "We find her. So, then she gave us some of her awesome soup and cornbread, to end our hunger. Now we're here presented with the opportunity to bathe ourselves. Plus, we have a warm place to sleep tonight."

Bonnie commented. "And not just any place to sleep tonight, but as warm soft bed as well in which we can sleep in the for next two nights or so. Better than other surfaces we have slept on at times. So, here we are ending this day with a nice hot watered wash up and warm bed to sleep in."

He pointed out. "Fourtunate you won the coin toss, huh. Otherwise, we might have missed out on meeting Samantha and therefore could have went down the other road, missing out on putting food in our bellies and this opportunity to bathe."

"Maybe I should win the coins tosses from now on if this is going to be our fortune then." She winked.

"I'll ensure you win all of the coin tosses between us, if this is going to be our luck." Damon wiggled his eyebrows.

Bonnie let out some slight laughter.

Then they proceeded with bathing themselves, in their shared basin of hot, steaming water. They lathered up a bunch of soap on their washcloths, scrubbed the top parts of their bodies for a few decent minutes, making sure to get every inch. And especially scrub and wash the areas of their underarms. After repeating this process to the top parts of their bodies to make sure they scrubbed away the dirt that had gotten there over the last couple of weeks. Taking turns to wash and rinse each other's backs in this process, since their backs were harder for them to reach. They rinsed the soap away from the top half of their body.

Moved on to washing their lower halves, which included their feet and legs. Finally they soaped up and washed on and around their private areas, bathing the area thoroughly, several times over before rinsing. And ended the bathing of their bodies by washing their bottoms, as getting that part clean was as important as having the private area clean.

By the time they rinsed themselves off. They had bathed all of the dirt and grime which may have been on their bodies off. And had successfully washed away any hint of body odor, although not overpowering, which might have gathered on them.

"Body's taken care of." Bonnie announced. "Now, if only I could wash my hair."

"My hair needs washing too, but we can still wash our hair, you and I." Damon gestured over to the smaller container of water they hadn't used. "We have enough water left over to each wash our hair."

"Alright, so let's wash our hair then." Bonnie nodded.

"Here's a idea" His eyes were roaming over her naked form.

She half smiled, as she saw that familiar look in his eyes. "Damon, we're not having sex in this house, out of courtesy to Samantha, I don't think we should be getting busy in her home or on her bed."

He snorted. "Wow, Bon Bon, I wasn't going to offer or suggest we have sex, get your mind out of the gutter why don't you, besides I wouldn't wish to be rude to Samantha while she's trying to sleep, knowing how loud you can be when I pleasure you."

Bonnie playfully rolled her eyes. "Geez, you're just too much at times."

Damon snickered.

"So, what's this idea of yours?"

"Was going to say, I'll wash your hair and then you could wash mine."

"Oh."

Damon cocked his head to the side. "Do we have a good deal then."

Bonnie took him up on his suggestion with a grin. "We have a good deal."

Damon grinned back. "Great, so first I'll wash your hair."

"Then, I'll wash yours!" She gave him a thumbs up.

So, they used the water in the extra container Samantha had filled with warm water, they took turns washing the other's hair. To wash the hair, they used the shampoo they had been carrying along with them in one of their luggage bags.

They plopped a large amount of the shampoo in their hand, used it and the water to lather up plenty of shampoo on the other's head. Washed the each other's hair thoroughly, until they were positive they hair was free of dandruff or dirtiness, then they rinsed all of the shampoo out of the other person's hair.

When their hair washing was completed, they finished by patting their hair dry with the towels, as well as making sure the rest of their bodies were dry from the bathing they had done.

"I feel so much better now." Bonnie sighed in relief since she felt much cleaner than she had been feeling for the last several days.

"Mmmm, washing away the grime, dirt, and some body odor does rejuvenate the body." Damon glanced at the water they had used to rejuvenate themselves, Samantha had instructed them to carry out the basin full of water in the morning, then dump it outside in the yard. So, he figured he would be the one to do that. Since he was sure the basin would be heavy for Bonnie to handle.

"I feel fresh and clean." Bonnie stretched out her eyes.

"Me too, almost like a entire new person, after the last couple of weeks prevented us from bathing. Glad we had this opportunity to wash ourselves off and get clean." Damon expressed.

They had yet to get dressed, so Bonnie walked up to him, and from behind, she wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her front against his back.

Damon placed his arms hands over hers which was wrapped around his torso, to hold her into place, as he took the moment to enjoy her embrace.

Bonnie whispered to him. "Thanks."

It took all of the will power he had in him not to get distracted by the feelings of her breasts mashed up against his back. "Just what are you thanking me for?"

"Just the small stuff you do for me, which is why I love you. Like how you offered to wash my hair. And you did a expert job at it by the way. Feeling your fingers massaging the shampoo in my hair was very relaxing."

"Same here, I mean on the loving you part and the you did an expert job at washing my hair as well."

"You know, you smell really fabulous." She directed at him.

"Do I?" His lips curved upward.

Bonnie breathed in a deep scent of him. "The Irish Spring soap you used just now makes you smell very manly, sort of a turn on."

Damon turned around so he was faced to face with her and now they fronts were pressed against each other's. "You smell nice as well."

Bonnie smiled.

Leaning in he took a deep sniff of her. "Like lavender, mixed with a little lemon. Totally intoxicating and makes you enticing to me."

"We'd better stop this talk about how good the other's scent is, before it leads us to end up having sex after all." Laughter danced in her eyes.

"We'd better, indeed. We'll get back to this talk once we leave here and go somewhere else more private for love making, where we won't have to worry about waking an old lady with your loud sex noises." Damon smirked.

"Please, you can get loud during our love making too." Bonnie lightly slapped him on his bare chest.

He admitted with an grin. "Yeah, I do."

She smirked. "Hmmmm."

The two of them separated to put some clothes on. Since it had been a while before now since they last bathed, they both put on some fresh and clean underwear which they had collected back in the house they had stayed in Louisiana. Then they put on the clothes they had on back on.

With them, they always made sure to try and put on a new set of clean clothes, every few weeks or a couple of months or so at least. Because they didn't have enough room in their bags to carry about extra clothing with them, they'd always attempted to search through abandoned houses or clothing stores for new clothes to wear. So, that they didn't go around for an extended period of time wearing the same dirty clothing.

Last month, which was January, they had come across one of those thrift stores. And had prid the doors open to see if they could find new, clean clothes to wear, since they had wore the ones they were wearing at the time, for a few months in a row at that point.

Unlike grocery stores or any buildings which used to have contained food, but then were long ago picked apart and ransacked in the months and years following the events of the apocalypse. There were many clothing stores, which had clothes left in them, even if they had been picked through following the events which lead the world to end, there was still lots of clothing left over, as clothing wasn't as high on the priority list for the people who tried to survive in those days.

Which was why Damon and Bonnie had been successful at finding clothes in this long ago abandoned thrift store. They exchanged the clothes they had found in October, for the ones they had found in January and changed right into their new, warm winter clothes in that thrift store.

So, currently the clothes they had worn and were now putting back on was the clothing they discovered about a month ago. They got dressed, but not before making sure to put some deodorant on their underarms.

Once they were dressed again, they stayed up for about forty minutes just to have some small talk.

Then Bonnie let out a yawn.

"Sleepy?" Damon noticed her yawning.

"Very tired and yes sleepy."

"I am too."

Bonnie asked him. "What time is it?"

Damon looked at his watch. "About close to eleven now."

Bonnie responded. "Wow, later than I thought it was."

"Feeling completely exhausted at the moment." He told her.

"As I'm feeling very sleepy, it's been a very long day." She pointed out.

"It has." He thought about how early they had gotten up on this morning to get going on their travels. They had started just at the crack of dawn, before the sun even came up.

Bonnie yawned once more, which in turn made him yawn and caused the both of them to let out a short laugh.

"Why don't we go to bed, we both surely could use some sleep." Damon suggested.

"I'm with you on that, ready to get into the bed and get some major sleep eye." Bonnie rubbed at her eyes with one of her hands.

"Ladies first." Damon gestured to the bed.

They approached the bed together, he waited for her to get into the bed first. However, she stood up in front of him before getting in.

""Aren't you going to kiss me good night first?" She gave him an lovingly, warm expression.

Obiliging her, Damon remained silent. Instead, he just tunneled his fingers through her hair, placed a brief kiss on her lips, before following it up by pressing his lips to her forehead.

Bonnie smiled at him once more before climbing into the bed.

He waited until she was on the side of the bed, before he climbed in with her. They shifted until the both of them were laying comfortable in the bed. They were facing the window, so they had the vantage point of seeing a full, bright, yellowish moon in the sky.

They laid on their sides, with her back facing his front.

Bonnie inched over to him until her back was against his chest. "Put your arm around me."

"Yes, Bon!" Damon again gladly obliged her by throwing his arm over her body.

She then put her arm over the one which was thrown over her, moved her hand down until her hand was on his that over her, then she laced their fingers together, brought their joined hands up to her lips and kissed his knuckles tenderly.

This stirred up the tender feeling of love he had for this woman.

"Good night, Damon."

"Good night, Bon."

He pulled the comforter cover over them. And the couple fell asleep, in the spooning position, as they held and snuggled each other through the night.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Sunlight poured through the window, shining onto the couple that were sleeping in the bed, sunlight flowed over Bonnie's face, as she was still facing the window, which caused her to wake him with some sun in her face.

Squinting her eyes, Bonnie could see through the view of the window, the orange sun had been in the process of rising over the horizon for at least about twenty minutes. Feeling very much well rested and like she had gotten plenty of sleep in the comfortable, warm bed, she turned to see if Damon had also waken up.

He wasn't woken up yet, he was still in a deep sleep, out to the world, having no clue she had woke up next to him. Although she was now awake, Bonnie made no move to get out of bed just yet, instead she just propped herself up on her elbow to study him for a minute.

How the orange morning sun washed over him, casting him in a orangish glow. During some time, he had shifted from his side, to onto his back. He was laying on his back, with his head tilted her direction on the pillow. And some of his hair had fallen onto his face, blocking half of it's view.

To get the full view of his face, she brushed his dark locks from his face, to reveal his handsome features being very relaxed in his sleep, his mouth was slightly parted as he snored ever so softly. She stayed there studying him for a good minute, watching his chest rise and fall as he inhaled and exhaled. And thought about what a sight he made.

She wondered if she should tell him that she was awake, but quickly decided against it. He looked so peaceful and restful in his current sleep, she didn't want to wake him. Instead deciding to let him sleep until he woke up on his own.

Leaning in, she kissed him on his forehead, leaned back to see how her forehead kiss didn't wake him. Although he was still sleeping, she figured she had gotten enough sleep and wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. And she didn't wish to exactly stay in the bed, waiting for him to wake up.

Looking back at the window to see the sun continuing to rise in the morning sky, she wondered what time it was. She did not have her watch on, as it was in her bag pack. But, Damon was still wearing his watch. She gently lifted his wrist, careful not to wake him to check what time it was.

It was about 7:25 a.m., which meant she got about nine and a half hours of sleep in at least. Which was more than enough to get her started on the day. As slowly as she could, she got out of the bed, because she didn't want to cause a big enough shift to wake Damon.

Once she had gotten successfully out of the bed without waking him, she pulled the covers back over him, until they came up to his chin. During the night before, she hadn't put on any socks, so she went over to her bag and retrieved a pair of clean socks placing them on her feet.

Bonnie then approached the closed door to the bedroom, wondering if Samantha had woken up or if she was the only person awake out of all three of them at the moment. Bonnie cracked the door to the bedroom open to see if she could figure it out, when she heard some noise coming from the area of the kitchen. Which answered her question, Samantha appeared to be awake.

Deciding to join Samantha, Bonnie casted one look back towards the bed, could see Damon still laying in it deeply asleep. She stepped outside of the room, softly closing the door behind her. Then headed towards the direction of the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Bonnie could see Samantha over the wood cooking stove, whistling out what sounded like a gospel tune. Samantha was bend never the oven compartment of the wood cooking stove. She used her ovenmit to slide something into the oven, them she shut the oven door.

Bonnie cleared her throat so that she wouldn't startle the woman.

Samantha turned to see how Bonnie had entered into the room.

"Good morning, Samantha." Bonnie greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning, Child." Samantha returned to her in a sweet grandmotherly way.

"Mind if I come in here to keep you company?" Bonnie asked in a friendly way.

"Not all at." Samantha swung an kitchen towel over her shoulder, after she wiped her hands on it. "I was wondering when others in the house would wake."

Shifting on her feet, Bonnie stated. "Well, I just woke up a few minutes ago."

Turning her attention to a medium sized tea kettle on the stove, Samantha mentioned. "I've been up for about an hour now."

Calculating the time in her head, Bonnie realized that this meant Samantha had been up around 6:30 a.m. in the morning "That's pretty early."

"I've always been a morning person, never sleep past eight in the morning." Said Samantha.

"What is it that smells so wonderful." Bonnie's nose suddenly put with a delicious cinnamon smell. Similar to what she smelled, when she and Damon arrived at this home the day before. "Reminds me of cinnamon."

"That's because it is cinnamon."

"Oh?"

Samantha explained to the younger woman. "Breakfast, for breakfast I worked up some flour, other ingredients and water into a dough, Mixed it with some cinnamon and sugar. So, for breakfast all of us our having cinnamon sugar bread."

Bonnie took in a breath. "Smells great, I'm sure it will even taste better."

Samantha let her know. "Should be ready in about twenty five minutes or so, I made enough for all of us."

"That's great." Bonnie commented.

"Where's the young man by the way?" Samantha looked over Bonnie's shoulder.

"You mean, Damon? He's still sleeping, so I decided to let him sleep in." Bonnie replied. "Him and I got up very early yesterday, so I guess he is still catching up on his sleep."

"Nothing wrong with sleeping in." Samantha uttered. "We'll just save him some cinnamon sugar bread whenever he wakes up."

Bonnie nodded. "Alright."

Samantha added. "While we're waiting for him and the bread to bake, why don't we have some coffee."

Bonnie perked up. "You have coffee!"

"The instant coffee kind, with the crystals you just need to make with some hot water. I have a couple of cups every morning to get me started on my day." Samantha explained.

Since this was mentioned, Bonnie now could smell the coffee brewing up.

"I have it boiling on the stove, in the big kettle. So, would you like a cup?"

Thinking about the last time she had tasted coffee, Bonnie recalled how it had been a while, she hadn't had coffee since her and Damon had discovered the MREs, in that bunker they had found. That was months and months ago when the weather was still warm and not frigid as it was now. And one of the beverages Bonnie wished she could have more of was coffee.

This is why she answered. "Absolutely!"

"Take a seat while I fix you some." Samantha waved a hand towards one of the chairs at the table.

And Bonnie took a seat at the chair.

Samantha got three mugs out of her cabinets, she placed the third to the side. Then took two over towards the kettle on the stove, she filled the two mugs with the brewing, hot instant coffee, then proceeded to take the two mugs of coffee over to the table.

She slide one of the mugs of coffee over to Bonnie.

"Thank you." Bonnie expressed to her.

"You're welcome." Samantha returned.

Bonnie inhaled the coffee through her nose, it may have been instant, but it still smelled like damn good coffee.

Samantha grabbed her sugar dish and a couple of spoons. She placed the sugar dish in the middle of the table, held out a spoon for Bonnie.

Taking the spoon, Bonnie have Samantha her thanks again.

"Don't have anything in the form of cream, all I have is sugar. So, we'll have to drink our coffee black."

"Don't worry, I'll take coffee in any form I can get it." Bonnie assured.

"Me too!"

Bonnie guessed. "So, you're a coffee lover then."

Samantha gave a nod. "Been one since I was in my late teens."

"A long time to be a fan of coffee."

"Actually, I have several cans of this instant coffee, saved up."

"You do?"

Samantha put in a spoonful of sugar into her coffee. "I could live without eating meat for the rest of my life, but couldn't quite get by without my coffee, so I made sure to stack up on the instant stuff."

For some reason, Bonnie was amused by this. "Well, that's something else."

Taking a sip of her coffee, Samantha commented. "One of the things I relied on to keep me going, other than the things I already mentioned to y'all, was coffee."

"Couldn't blame you for that." Bonnie put in two spoonfuls and a half of sugar into her coffee, stirred it around with her spoon. "I would have coffee more often too, if I had more access to it."

"Wouldn't be all!"

"Are you from North Carolina, I mean have you lived here for most of your life?" Bonnie questioned to make conversation.

"I'm originally from Iowa." Said Samantha.

Bonnie sipped some coffee, for instant coffee, it was pretty good. "Really?"

Samantha emphasised. "Lived in Iowa for most of my life."

Bonnie pondered. "When did you move here?"

"Some years after the apololasype, weather events." Answered Samantha.

"After?"

"Ummm Mmmm."

"So, what made you move then?"

Samantha let Bonnie calmly know. "We were so of forced to."

Bonnie was very curious now, as her brow furrowed upon hearing this. "Forced to, you mean someone forced you to leave Iowa."

Samantha shook her head. "Not exactly, not directly. I mean, I guess instead of saying we were forced to go, I would word it in how we had no choice but to leave, due to circumstances changing for the worst."

"And what made you have no choice."

"There's was a particulier, vicious, violent group of people around, reigning terror across the state of Iowa. And they were invading the counties of Iowa one by one to reign down that terror. They would kill anyone left living who didn't follow their rules and demands. Or just simply be killing innocent people because they could. They were responsible for at least one hundred deaths across Iowa."

"How awful." Bonnie frowned. As the practices of terror from the group Samantha was describing sounded familiar. But, she didn't wish to jump to conclusions.

Samantha went on. "Due to this group of vicious people killing random folks on sight, it got very dangerous for folks to be living in that part of Iowa. And they were closing in on the area where I was living with Jeremiah. The isolated people who lived around in the county was doing pretty well off for themselves, us included. Or about as well off as folks can do after they have lived through the events that nearly ended the world…"

"Yet, the group who was causing terror, didn't seem to satisfied with allowing people to mind their own, as long as they weren't messing with anyone. People who were innocent and minding their own business, were attacked by this group and had whatever survival resources they had depleted or stolen, as if these people believed they owned the place…"

'Oh, yeah.' Bonnie thought grimly to herself. This group in which Samantha was describing sounded a lot like the New Dawn, but again, she didn't want to jump to conclusions, since Samantha had not actually called this group who had reigned terror in Iowa, The New Dawn.

Samantha stared down into her coffee, with the way that people stared when they were recalling something. "With them reigning terror in our area, Jeremiah knew that it would only be a matter of time where they could get where we lived, and therefore get to us and ambush us to kill us. We knew we had to escape from the state of Iowa, to get away from the potential danger of that group."

"At the time, in Iowa, years ago, it wasn't just me and Jeremiah who were living together, we had other members of the family living with us, the ones who had lived in Iowa as well and who had survived all of the weather disasters. We had all come together, seeing how there was better survival chances if family members sticked together and had each other's backs. And it was like that for a while….

"Jeremiah, me, my sister, nephew and my nephew's wife. The five of us had each other's backs and watched out for each other. But, then when me and Jeremiah said that we should get out of there for our safety, my sister didn't agree with us."

Bonnie grasped onto her mug of coffee. "She didn't want to leave Iowa, your sister?"

"Margaret, she was always stubborn as a mule." Samantha vocalized in a manner in which a person was wistfully reminiscing about a family relative. "And her stubbornness carried on when she told me how she wasn't going anywhere, how she wasn't going to leave Iowa, how she wasn't going to let the vicious group of devils run her out of town or make her live in fear. When I tried to talk some sense into her to get her to come with me and Jeremiah, she had put her foot down and said she wasn't going anywhere…"

"After some back and forth, I knew we wouldn't see eye to eye, as I knew she wasn't going to change her mind. She wasn't going to leave, yet I knew I couldn't stay either. So, her and I embraced in a sisterly fashion, said we loved each other and parted our ways."

Bonnie wished to know more. "And the nephew and his wife, what was their decision about leaving or staying in Iowa?"

Samantha implied. "Seeing, as my sister was my nephew's mama, he stayed behind with Marget to protect her."

Bonnie made a movement with her head. "Of course, makes sense he would stay to be with his mother."

"Naturally my nephew's wife would want to stay with her husband, so the five of us parted ways. Me and Jeremiah leaving and Margaret, my nephew and his wife staying behind. Once we left, we never saw the three of them again. Anyway, as I was saying, Jeremiah and I packed up the Uhaul with everything we owned, we gassed it up with as much gas a we could. And we got on the road with it, driving away from the state of Iowa. ….

"We wished to get as far away from the state as possible, we decided to head East, instead of going West, or further North. Jeremiah drove us over to the east coast, where we picked here in North Carolina to live." Samantha finished.

The younger woman looked around the kitchen. "And you and your husband moved here into this house."

The older woman explained. "We knew what we needed first, was a new house to live in since we were new to the area. We looked for a house which was best suited for us and the conditions we needed to live in. And found this one. It had an for sale sign on it, but the thing was that even though we have money in the sense of having enough in the bank to buy a house, we couldn't even use it. Because of the collapse of the financial infrastructures, currency was useless by that time…

"When we found the owner of this house, we couldn't exactly offer her money or cash to sell it to us."

Sipping on more of her coffee, Bonnie wondered. "So, did you and Jeremiah trade something with this woman for exchange of the house?"

"Traded nothing for it, the woman just gave the house to me and Jeremiah for free."

Bonnie was somewhat taken aback to hear this, as she knew most people didn't give anything away for free in the current world.

The old elderly black lady went on still. "Jeremiah and I were shocked this woman was offering a house to us for free. But, she said she already had a home to live in and told us that there was no longer any use in keeping it up for sale, due to all the destruction around which had happened by that time. This woman had just been tired of all of the eviliness she had seen from the actions of some people. She wanted to believe there was still some hope for humanity, that there was still some out there who could do good…

"And she wanted to be an example of that, so she just gave us this house here, out of the kindness of her heart. Told us she wanted nothing in return, expect for us two return it with a kind act to another person, which I have no problems doing. "

Bonnie looked over at Samantha. "It was a very kind thing for that woman to give you this home for free, because some people wouldn't give away bottle of water away for free, much less an whole house."

"In my heart, I feel like me and Jeremiah coming across that woman was a blessing from God, who knew we needed a new house, after we had fled from Iowa. And this woman just wanted to do good, because of there being so much bad people around.

"Once we got this house off of the hands of the woman, Jeremiah and I went to work quickly, we went to work in building up this house to be our home. First we converted it into the living standards that were created from the fall out of the electricity going out all over the place. The electric had been out for many years at that point. And you see, folks had to learn to adjust to life without electricity. Some did better than others. And other folks struggled to get adjusted to it.

Samantha moved her head in a sideways fashion. "...Back then before all of the weather destruction, when there was still widespread electricity, people would freak out or have a fit even if the electricity went out for five minutes, so you could imagine what it was like for some people when they learned that the electricity was out for good this time.."

Bonnie tried to imagine, she never grew up in a world with electricity, so she really wasn't aware of what it was like to have it, be use to having it for most of your life, then losing it. But, she knew the reaction back then to losing it couldn't have been pretty.

"As I was saying, some adjusted better than others, and we were one of the ones who adjusted better. We learned to live like the people did back before electricity was even invented. If humankind lived hundreds of years without it, then we could too. So, when gotten this house, there was the England wood burning heating stove, you see in the living room already here. But, the stove in the kitchen was still one that ran by electric. It couldn't be used…

"But, we knew we needed to cook. So, Jeremiah got rid of the electric stove. Then took he Uhaul and used the gas left in it, to drive around, until he found an local museum a few miles away from here, this museum stored artifacts from the 1700s to the 1900s. He found an old wood burning, cooking stove with an oven and put it up on the U Haul, to haul in back here."

"He installed the wood cooking stove in the kitchen and together, him and me built this house up and converted it into our home. We prepared an area of the backyard to turn it into a garden, gathered up a bunch of seed packages of different variety of vegetables and began growing our own food. And soon enough this house was our home. And we made it work, it was about nine years ago where we moved here to North Carolina and this home. And I've been living with Jeremiah here until he passed away. And still I carry on making this house a true home." Samantha finished with pride.

With her eyes scanning around the area, Bonnie gave her take. "Well, you've done an above fine job at turning this into a home, I've only been here for a short while, yet it doesn't just feel like a house, it feels cozy, as a home should feel in every sense of the word."

The expression of pride heightened on Samantha's face. "Makes me feel something proud to hear you say that, sweetie."

Bonnie complimented. "As you should feel."

The two women sipped on their coffee in silence for a couple of minutes. Yet, Bonnie still wished to know more about the older woman's experiences.

"I don't mean to be a bother to you."

"Why would you be a bother to me?"

"I meant, I know I already asked you many questions, I don't wish to get on your nerves, my asking you more." Bonnie clarfield.

"You're not getting on my nerves." Returned Samantha.

Bonnie pondered. "Are you sure, if I asked you more questions, it wouldn't feel like I'm intruding or pressing you too much."

Samantha shifted her eyes from her mug to Bonnie. "No, it wouldn't feel like you're pressing too much. I find it kind of endearing that you would be interested in wanting to know so much about how my life went."

Bonnie said this. "Okay."

Samantha pressed. "You wish to ask me something else."

"You were old enough to be here, before it all changed into the world we know currently, for the 'before."

"Correct."

"Mind telling me what your life was like around the time the world went hectic.?"

Samantha guessed. "You mean around the time the natural disasters started to happen."

Bonnie hinted. "Yes, how was your life around the time and what happened with your life, during the timing of those events."

Samantha didn't need Bonnie to specify what events, she knew the events were what the machine had caused to happen around the world. "I'll tell you most of what my memory can recall."

Bonnie gave the older woman a nod.

"I graduated from college, where I had met Jeremiah, then once I graduated from college, I went into nursing. Nursing was an hard job, with a lot of hours, but I loved doing it, as I loved the reward of having sick and injured patients get better and heal them. I worked in this practice of healing until retirement age, which was sixty five." Samantha took a big gulp of her coffee.

Listening closely, Bonnie continued to drink her coffee.

Pushing her coffee mug to the side, Samantha templed her fingers in the way that she did. And soberly began to tell Bonnie her story.

The older woman started from the flashback story, by telling the younger one about the events which sent the world into a talespin and on a downward spiral towards the apocalypse. The story started off with how life was normal for everyone and how she was going on about her everyday life. Before, without warning it all started to change.

One day in 2017, massive storms broke out all across the United States and how the world, and meteorologists didn't predict or forecast these storms happening and was in total confusion when they did. Because the first set of storms happened without warning, many people had died in them or millions of dollars in damage was caused.

From that day the weather events only started to get worse or intensify. Every part of the world was experiencing the horror of some type of major weather disaster or natural disaster. All news situations were covering this outbreak 24/7, due to everyone trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

Moving on, Samantha described how this subject remained at the top of what every news channel was covering, until they couldn't cover it any longer. Because of either the destructive weather laying waste to the area's around the news stations or to the news stations themselves. Or either because power and electricity cut off access to the news channels for millions of people.

Samantha mentioned how eventually electricity went out in one hundred percent of the planet, during the months following the disaster, either from the direct destruction of the weather itself, or because the power grids were overwhelmed. Or because Nuclear power plants had been abandoned by those who worked there either fleeing or trying to find places to hide from the destruction.

And once the power went out, and people realized that electricity was never coming on again, there was panic and chaos. Some people adapted to this notion of a suddenly disabled electricity world better than others. For a little while, some were able to counter the loss of electricity with generators. But, even those only lasted for a short time.

As the natural disasters prolonged, the mass production of food had began to stop, factories began to shut down. And as this happened, the demand for food in any form and water went up. Some greedy businessmen had tried to take advantage of this by price gouging. Running up everything from gas, to packages of water, and even cans of food.

People didn't take to kindly to this and some just countered with looting the stores that charged a ridiculous about of money of a pack of water. Over the course of months, as Samantha explained it, terrible weather events was happening in every section of the globe. There wasn't a single habitable continent which a person could escape from and not be faced with some sort of weather destruction.

Because of this, millions had died over the course of these months. Which made more panic and fear spread all over the globe. Governments were overwhelmed and couldn't handle all of these things happening all over the world at the same time. Even the richest and most stable countries were worn thin by it all. Not being able to keep up with the resources and manpower needed to help the millions of people in turmoil.

So, governments eventually collapsed. And whatever government officials left alive, left the people to fend for themselves, as they were worried about the survival of themselves and their families. Samantha stated how in the aftermath of the destruction, how many still died to to various reasons, indirectly related to what the machine did.

And how nasty, mean, and cruel the world turned into. She mentioned how people were getting so desperate for food. And how she witness one man shoot another man over a loaf of bread. Mentioned how she herself, along with Jeremiah had to fight tooth and nail to live. How difficult it was for her and her loved ones during the months and years following.

By the time Samantha had finished updating Bonnie in on what happened back then, Bonnie was on the edge of her seat, captivated by this woman's story. She had heard about what the world was like before, from the view of her father.

And yet, Samantha had a perspective which was unique to Bonnie.

"How did you get through all of that? I meant emotionally and mentally." Bonnie directed the question for what she meant.

"Emotionally, mentally. I got through those times, just like I've gotten through the tough times in my life before, through my steadfast faith. My belief that Christ would see me through my trials and tribulations, helped me through it. I prayed to him to protect me and my loved ones and we remained alive, I believe because he answered my prayers…" Samantha stated in the tone of someone with a ton of faith.

"Besides my steadfast faith, another thing which helped me get through the rough times of the world was Jeremiah and my loved ones. WIthout my faith and loved ones, I don't think I would be able to make it through."

Bonnie slipped down the last of her coffee. And during her story telling, Samantha had drunken down all of hers too. Seeing they were both out of coffee, Samantha rose, refilled both of their mugs. And brought them over back to the table, where they could finish their conversation.

"I'm truly inspired by your strength and how you used your faith to assist in seeing you through the horrific times." Bonnie let Samantha know, with some admiration.

"A person just has to grasp onto whatever they believe in, during troubling times and not let go." Samantha gestured. "For me it's the Christian faith, for others it maybe another religion, and still other folks who don't believe in religion at all may cling to something else. Doesn't matter what it is. As long as it's good and you believe in it. Then hold onto it, never let go, it will see you through the most difficult times."

"I have to agree." Bonnie uttered.

"You know, you remind me of myself in a lot of ways."

Bonnie paused in putting the sugar into her coffee. "...I do?"

Samantha confirmed. "You do."

Bonnie cocked her head to the side. "How so?"

Samantha stated firmly. "Just the strength and will you have in you reminds me a lot about myself. I see your strength having a lot to do with you still living to this day, especially at your young age."

"Wow." Was the best reaction Bonnie could come up with on the spot.

"In a ways, I feel like you may even be stronger than I am."

Bonnie opened her mouth, then closed it, not knowing exactly what to say towards that.

"Because you never knew what it was like before, but only experienced how the world was in the _after_. I feel sorry for the children born in the after which would include you. Growing up only knowing the current, cruel conditions of the world and having to live through it. Yes, those of us born before may have lost out on certain luxuries, but at least we experienced those luxuries..

The elderly lady filled the younger lady in on what she meant. "So, in that way, you are stronger than me."

Reaching over, Bonnie placed a hand on Samantha's shoulder. "Coming from you, a woman who casts the aura of the strength of a thousand suns, I'm honored to hear you believe I have so much strength."

"Because it's the true." Samantha patted Bonnie lightly on her hand.

Bonnie pulled her hand away, went back to mixing the sugar in her coffee.

"Something else that reminds you of myself, if your relationship with that young man."

"Pardon me?"

"Damon, your relationship with him."

"Oh, what about it?" Bonnie asked in a curious tone.

Samantha worked on her second cup of coffee. "Your relationship with me, reminds me of my one with Jeremiah's, especially in our younger years as a couple. Not exactly, yet emotionally your romance reminds me of the one I had with Jeremiah."

Bonnie cleared her throat. "How do you figure Damon and I are together like that?"

Samantha announced. "Developed a feeling yesterday soon after I met y'all. With how you all reacted, interacted around each other. Plus, with how you looked at him and vise versa a few times, although subtle at times. I just got the notion that y'all are more than just friendly travelers towards the other."

Bonnie arched a brow, "Interesting, because I don't recall Damon nor I letting you know that him and I were in a romance."

"Naw, neither of you told me, as I said I got this notion, you give off the aura of like how two people are when they're yearning and betrothed with each other. Then when you two agreed to share a room and bed together, it sealed my notion for me. Most of the time when a man and woman share a bed, it's either because they are already lovers or because they want to be." Samantha vocalized as a matter of fact.

This made Bonnie blush for some reason, she fully and excitingly embraced Damon Salvatore as her lover, plus then some. Still, hearing someone else bring up the subject of how he was her lover, made her blush like a schoolgirl.

"Are you embarrassed to reveal him as your lover?" An knowing expression appeared across Samantha's face. The type a woman would get when she was discussing such things as romantic partners with another woman.

"No, No, not at all. I'm not all embarrassed to admit it, there's nothing embarrassing about admitting that he is." Bonnie returned without hesitation.

"All right." Samantha murmured.

Bonnie boldly acknowledged. "Yes, I and Damon are lovers, more than that even!"

Samantha actually patted herself on the shoulder. "Figured, I know these things. Ain't nothing better than having the right man to warm your bed at night."

Blushing once more, Bonnie cleared her throat.

"As I can tell you by watching how you are around each other, there's a lot of love there." Samantha pushed on, again in the type of fashion a woman did when discussing romantic partners with another woman.

"Yeah." Bonnie confessed warmly. "I love Damon, I love him a lot."

"And the young man loves, you too. He's in love with you a lot. Just from the way he looks at you, as if you were the most precious thing on earth to him." Said Samantha sweetly.

Bonnie brought her mug of coffee up to her lips to cover her smile. "Yes, you know, it stirs something up inside of me to love and be loved in return."

Samantha emphasised with a nod. "Embrace that, embrace being loved and being loved in return. Welcome love with open arms. It's a blessing to the soul to have and be with someone you're in love with and who is in love with you. Especially during these times. So, you embrace it and you hold into the love."

The younger woman stated. "I have and I will!"

The older woman eyed the cooking stove for a brief moment, before returning her focus to Bonnie. "This is why you and him, reminded me of me and Jeremiah when we were young. Jeremiah and I, were the crazy in love type. Which lead to us being together for many decades."

"Trust me, I wish for nothing more than my relationship with Damon to last as long as yours with your husband did. I want to be with him for decades, I want to be with him for the rest of my life." Bonnie sighed.

"You will be, y'all will last, you just have to believe in your heart you will."

"I honestly believe in my heart, my heart tells me that I'll be with him for many decades, until him and I grow old." Bonnie pronounced with the wonderment of love.

Samantha petted her on the top of the head. "And since you believe, that's exactly how it will happen."

A beaming Bonnie proceeded to drinking her second cup of coffee.

Getting up, Samantha approached the stove. "The cinnamon sugar bread should be ready."

Observing Samantha, Bonnie watched as the older woman opened the oven door.

Bending down, Samantha peered inside to check on what she had put in the oven. She spoke a short time later. "Just as I said, twenty five minutes on the dot, breakfast is ready."

Since she had tasted her cooking the night before, Bonnie could anticipate what it would be like to taste Samantha's cinnamon bread.

"There it is." Samantha used her oven mit to take out the baking sheet of bread. "My world famous cinnamon bread."

"Can't wait to taste it!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Going to match up perfectly with the coffee we're having!" Samantha also exclaimed.

Taking a whiff, Bonnie declared. "Smells wonderful."

"Sure does." Boomed a male voice.

Both women turned to see Damon walking into the kitchen. He had the obvious look to him of someone who had just woken up out of bed.

"Morning, Ladies!" He greeted them with cheerful charisma.

"Morning, Damon." Bonnie gave her man a bright smile which spread ear to ear.

"You're up, young man." Was Samantha's greeting to him.

"Just got up about three minutes ago." Damon directed.

Bonnie watched as he approached closer to the table, with his eyes trained on her.

Damon focused his attention on her for a moment. "Woke up in bed, reaching for you and saw that you weren't there."

Bonnie directed at him. "You were still sleeping, in a deep sleep and looked peaceful while doing so, I did not wish to disturb you."

He eyed her with sweetness. "Understood, some extra shut eye never harms anyone."

"And did you get plenty of sleep, how was your rest?" Samantha wiped her hands on the kitchen towel.

"Rested very well, slept like a log, up now with enough energy to keep me going for the rest of the day." He replied to Samantha.

"Good, then you're just in time for breakfast." Samantha said.

Damon's attention was drawn. "Did you say breakfast? What's for breakfast!"

Bonnie proclaimed. "Cinnamon Sugar bread."

Damon beamed. "Cinnamon sugar bread?"

"Yes, Samantha baked us some cinnamon sugar bread." Beamed Bonnie by his reaction.

"Awesome! Thanks for the sweet bread, Samantha."

"Glad you're looking forward to it." Samantha returned to him.

Much like how Bonnie had done, Damon took a deep whiff of the air. Other then the cinnamon sugar bread, his nose caught the scent of something else. "Is that coffee?"

"It's coffee!" Bonnie lifted her mug to show him.

"Been awhile since I last had coffee." Damon perked up.

"Certainly has been." Bonnie delivered.

Samantha put in. "There isn't any cream, only sugar, so the best you can take it is black or sweet plus black."

Damon assured. "I'll take coffee anyway I can get it, especially since I've haven't had it in a while."

Sipping more of her coffee, Bonnie thought about going for her third, after Damon had gotten his share. "Yep, said the exact same thing."

"I'll take my coffee sweet and black." Damon announced.

"Coffee is in the kettle on the stove, I'll get some for you." Samantha told him.

"That's okay, I'll pour it for myself, just to save you some steps." Damon held up his hand.

"Alright then." Samantha tilted her head towards the stove. "Coffee's there, should be still enough left more a several more mug fulls."

Maneuvering himself towards the stove, Damon grabbed onto a empty mug, then he poured himself a mug full of the coffee, which was still warm from being near the hot stove. He took his mug over to the table.

Bonnie had her eyes on him during his entire approach to the table.

Seating himself to Bonnie, Damon eagerly filled his coffee with three spoonfuls of sugar. Stirred it with his spoon.

During the entire time he did this, Bonnie found herself captivated by his appearance. His mane of thick black hair was disheveled from the night of sleep he had. And Bonnie found herself wanting to stroke her fingers through it, yet she resisted the urge to do so, reminding herself of their company.

As he was preparing to drink his coffee, he caught a glimpse of her out of his side eye, noticed she seemed to be looking his way. So, he turned his head to get a full view of her in his eyes. Noticed how she was staring him down as if she really wished to do something inimated to him.

And this made him wish to do something intimate to her in return, like stroke her cheek with his hand, followed by giving her a searing kiss. Especially since when she looked at him like that, he found himself getting lost in her emerald green eyes. Instead he just gave her a brief heated staredown on his own, followed by a flirty wink.

In response, Bonnie found herself getting the giddy feeling she got inside of her, whenever she was reminded of just how this man let her know exactly what and how he felt for her. She gave him a delighted grin, as she recalled the conversation she and Samantha had over him, just moments before he came into the kitchen.

Across the way, Samantha observe the two of them interacting in the manner they did. Out of all of the couples she had an outsider view of before, she had never witnessed two people in love like Damon and Bonnie obviously were and this was even in during the short time she had met them.

Samantha bemused at how they gave off the vibe of two young people who were very passionately in love and who had fallen deeply for each other. She was glad for the duo and how they attained the type of love, she had been blessed to have gotten with her husband. It lifted her spirits how even the most destructive, catastrophic events that nearly wiped out mankind, couldn't put an end to the most powerful of love stories.

Turning her attention from the young couple. Samantha grabbed out a large serving platter. Then transferred all of the cinnamon sugar bread she had made onto the serving platter. With the platter piled high with the sweet bread, she took the platter over to the table.

The two of them stopped their flirty staredowns, to turn their attention to Samantha.

Damon took a sip of his coffee and declared. "Man, this is some darn good coffee or maybe it's because I haven't had any in awhile, but it's still good."

"Yeah, I'm working on by second cup right now, even thought about going for a third." Bonnie declared.

"Can't blame you for that, I'll most likely have a second cup as well." Damon put in.

"Three coffee lovers in this house, at least I have something in common with y'all young ones. Drink all of the coffee to your heart's content."

Damon and Bonnie gave a nod of acknowledgement towards Samantha for her coffee comment.

"Here's is the cinnamon sugar bread." Samantha represented the platter full in the middle of the table. "Nice, warm and more than enough for more than one piece, if you want to have more than one piece."

"Looks yummy." Damon eyed the bread.

"Can't wait to taste. Been smelling them for the last twenty minutes and they smell absolutely mouth watering." Bonnie added.

Samantha reached for some cinnamon bread, telling them. "Eat up."

They chatted it up as they drink coffee and ate cinnamon sugar bread. And as the young pair of them discussed some things with her and each other, Samantha's attention was drawn to Damon for a particular reason.

Out of nowhere, it dawned on her that there was something recognizable about Damon. Which was a bite strange to Samantha, because although it had been over a day since she had seen him, this moment was the very first time she had seen something recognizable about him.

There was something about his aura or something specific in the features of his face, which she had this gut feeling on how she had met him before. Or there was just this gut feeling she had on him being familiar somehow. Yet, she couldn't put her finger on why she was suddenly feeling this way about him. Samantha just pondered to herself what was going on in her mind.

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

Once they had their bellies full of coffee and cinnamon sugar bread, breakfast was over. So, Samantha put the rest of the sweet bread into a ziplock bag to be eaten by them later.

"Well, it's was nice having coffee with y'all, but I'll have to start getting to work on my chores for the day." Samantha spoke.

"What chores do you have to do?" Bonnie questioned curious.

"First, I have to wash the dishes we ate off yesterday and this morning. Then I have to tend to Walter, feed him, then take him out of the stable, so that I can clean his stable. Then I need to go to the well out back, collect some barrels of water from the well by hand."

Samantha directed as she explained her chores to the two. "...I always collected a ton of water every other day, or every day if I need to collect it every day. Half of the water collected is used for washing up the body. The other half, I boil to sanitize it to kill the germs, then filter , so I can bottle it in the gallon jugs. Then those gallon jugs are used for the water I cook and drink with. Once I have that done, I need to go out back and chop some firewood, for both of these stoves in here."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Whoa, that's quite a lot of chores in one day."

Samantha shrugged. "As I say, I keep myself busy, sometimes to the point of doing chores all day long. Helps keep up my energy. Although on some days I'm not always this busy."

Damon offered. "Why don't we help you?"

"What do you mean?" Samantha questioned.

"No need to do all of these chores all alone, since the two of us are here and can't assist you with at least with some of them." Damon suggested.

"He's right, I know you're probably use to doing all of the chores, but that's still a lot for you to do by yourself. We could take some of that off of your shoulders." Bonnie offered.

"Now, I may not be a young spring chicken. And I may look frail, but I have more strength than you know. I'm perfectly capable of handling all of the chores on my own, as I have often did them on my own." Samantha returned to them sweetly.

Damon pronounced with politeness. "Yes, there's no doubt that you can handle them on your own. We're just saying that you don't have to or shouldn't have to while we are here. Let us help you, out of gratitude for you not only feeding us, but giving us a warm house to sleep in, with an added bonus of giving a an opportunity to bathe."

Bonnie vocalized with kindness. "Again, he's right. There's no way you should do all of this work by yourself, when we are here. We want to help you, you deserve our help, just as a token of our appreciation for what you have done for us. Please, allow us to help you."

Samantha pursed her lips. "If y'all insist."

"We do." They said at the same time.

"Well, alright. I'm not going to turn down offers for help too many times. I'll indeed make use of the two of you while y'all are here." Samantha expressed. "With that said, let's get to work."

Rubbing her hands together Bonnie stated. "I'll get started on washing the dishes. Then I'll assist in feeding Walter outhere, along with cleaning out his stable." And Bonnie made a move to do just that. She gathered up the mugs from the table they had drunk out of. Then carried them over to the sink to get started on washing them.

Raising from the table, Damon jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "First, I'll dump out the water which we used to bathe with yesterday night. Then, I'll collect the water out of the well and chop up some firewood for you."

Samantha called out to him before he could move away from the table. "Young man."

"Yes, do you need anything else, Ma'am….I mean Samantha." Damon corrected himself.

"A thought just now came to me, in relation to you." Samantha mentioned.

"Really." Damon commented. "What thought would that be?"

Bonnie who was washing the dishes listened in, while remaining silent.

Samantha focused in on him, studying his features closely. "Out of nowhere, I just saw you and then recognized something about you. Like there's a familiarity about you."

Damon paused before saying. "...Hmmm, interesting. Is there something specific you find familiar about me?"

Shaking her head, Samantha replied. "If there's something specific about you, then for me, I guess it would in particular your presence. Almost like I'm met you before."

Near the sink, Bonnie's eyes met up with his. And they exchanged the same peculiar gaze as to what Samantha was preferring to. But, again Bonnie said nothing.

"Again, Interesting." Damon shifted his eyes back to Samantha. "Because you and I have never met before yesterday."

"That's what I know." Samantha rubbed at her forehead. "Can't put my finger on why this came to me all of a sudden, must be one of those things."

Lifting his in a slight shrug, Damon uttered. "Must be."

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

When Bonnie got through with washing the dishes and Damon got through with disposing of the water they had bathed in, the two of them brushed their teeth, then they put on their boots, and she her jacket and him his coat and stepped outside.

Outside they joined Samantha who was out, already getting to work on her outside chore. Just as they said they would do, they assisted her in doing all of her chores, so she wouldn't have to do them alone while they were there.

Didn't take them long to see how difficult the chores were, cleaning out the donkey's stable wasn't exactly an easy task. And there was some heavy duty labor involved in chopping enough firewood to last. Along with collecting all of the water out of the well, using a bucket that was connected to a rope. Then a hand crank had to be used to lower the bucket into the well for water to be lifted by out.

Which wasn't an easy task again, considering how heavy a bucket filled with water could be. All of these hard tasks they did, just made the duo of Damon and Bonnie admire the older human among them on this day, in a respect filled way. As they knew how Samantha did these same chores multiple times as week all by herself, while managing to keep herself up and going.

For her part, Samantha was mighty grateful to have their help while they were there and she let them know more than once how grateful for their help she was. It took all three of them several hours to complete all Samantha needed done, but because she had two more people helping her, they did get done faster than she normally completed them. Normally, she would have to take a break in between before resuming the remainder of the chores. But, with help, Samantha got them done without having to take a break.

By the time they successfully finished up with the chores, ending it by putting Walter back in his now cleaned garage stable, hours had passed by. Making it about just before four ' o'clock in the evening, by the time Samantha had boiled and filtered the water she wanted to use for drinking and cooking, followed by bottling the water once again with their help.

Samantha rewarded Damon and Bonnie helping her out, by heating up the soup she had made for them before. So, the young pair cleaned and sanitized their hands. Then joined Samantha again at the table. Where they had several more bowls of her homemade vegetable and barley soup in tomato broth.

And once they were full up the soup, they enjoyed some of the wine Samantha had to offer to them.

For as much as she was enjoying the company of the young couple, Samantha couldn't just shake the feeling which had been remaining with her all day long. This feeling she had gotten in relation to Damon.

This notion which was constantly nagging at her on how she somehow met Damon before in her life or this intuition she felt deep inside of her gut, on there was just something about his presence and his features which was so familiar to her. She suddenly had recognize features on Damon and couldn't put her finger on why or how she recognized him.

At first she tried to brush it off as just one of those things a person made a mistaken confusion on. Yet, the more she had studied him during the course of the day, the more this intuition feeling in her gut kept nagging at her. And since her intuition was usually correct, Samantha wondered what her brain was attempting to remind her of.

So, all day long she dug through her memories to find out exactly why she had developed this feeling about Damon being so familiar do her. And because of her age, her memories, especially the long term ones weren't as easy to come by. And she had to concentrate very hard to get them to come back up.

So, she concentrated during the chores, concentrated as they had soup and then wine. Yet, still couldn't figure out why she had this intuition about her when it came to Damon. That was until about seven o'clock that late evening. When the focusing on her memories paid off. A lightbulb went off in her head, as she remembered exactly why there was a particular familiarity in Damon.

"Knew I wasn't losing my mind." Samantha slapped her hand against her thigh, in relief of the memories that had resurfaced in her mind.

And now she was also relieved that Damon happened to have come across her way, because this specific memories she had just recalled was groundbreaking, and she had no idea how it would be until just now. And knew due to the circumstances that Damon had no idea as well.

But, since Samantha now recalled this things, she knew she had to reveal them to Damon. As she felt like this was something he needed to know. Samantha was glad that Bonnie and Damon had decided to stay another night, due to the chores having them work until the evening time.

Otherwise, they would have already left to continue on their journey north to Virginia. And then there would be no way for Samantha to communicate to him, what she was about to communicate to him.

Yet, she was determined to let him know about this, because in her eyes. The young man deserved to know this.

Samantha had been in her bedroom, tidying up when this Damon related light bulb went off in her head. So, she left her room to find out where in the house Damon was. She found him in the living room, with Bonnie. The young couple was sitting on the couch next to each other, looking through some books Samantha had collected, to pass the time.

In order to draw their attention to her Samantha made a noise with her throat. Which caused the pair to look her way.

"How are y'all feeling?" Samantha questioned.

"We're feeling fine, just decided to look at some books until we go to bed tonight." Was Bonnie's reply.

"Can I speak to you all about a certain subject?" Asked Samantha.

"Sure, no problem." Bonnie replied to the old woman once more.

Taking a deep breath Samantha spoke. "This subject I've about to speak on is an extremely important matter, having to do with Damon."

Damon placed a hand on his chest. "Me?"

Samantha nodded. "Yes, you young man."

"What could the extremely important matter having to do with me be about?" Questioned Damon.

Beside him, Bonnie eyed Samantha waiting for her answer.

"Remember earlier, when I told you about how there was a thing about your presence that seemed familiar to me." Samantha started.

"Correct, I do remember you telling me that." Damon returned.

"The feeling has been picking my brain all day long, about there being something familiar about you or an intuition I just got about recognizing you out of nowhere all of a sudden. Turns out that it's not just a coincidence or a thing."

He waited for Samantha to go into further detail.

"As I stated before, at times my memory can be faulty or my age makes it more harder to remember certain things right off of the bat, as it takes focus for me to dig up older memories at times. But, I did just now manage to dig up some of those memories. And I realized something, which as I say is a extremely important subject pertaining to you, young man.

"There's actually a whole reason for me having this recognition and familiarity when it comes to this subject I mentioned, a very good reason on why this feeling didn't just come over me for nothing." Samantha finished.

Both Damon and Bonnie were bewildered by this statement coming from Samantha.

"What are you trying to say? What are you getting at concerning, Damon?" A confused Bonnie wanted to know.

Samantha clasped her hands together eagerly, figuring out the best way to explain. "My memory is slower than what it use to be, so it was slow for me to recall what I did, but now that I did, it's getting as clear as a sunny day to me. I've figured it out, my brain has figured out the reason for my seeing something familiar in Damon…..is because I have seen him in my life before after all."

Bonnie was taken aback to hear Samantha say this. "You have?"

"That's can't be right." Damon was more thrown for a loop than Bonnie was, to hear these words come out of Samantha's mouth.

"I wouldn't be telling you this, If I honestly didn't know what I was talking about, young man." Samantha insisted gently.

"No disrespect, but I've never met you or saw you before in my life, until a couple of days ago. So, you couldn't have seen me in your life before now." A puzzled Damon furrowed his brow.

"Mainly because you were too young to remember, so it would have a lot to do with you not remembering me. Heck I did not remember you until now." Samantha commented with a slight frown.

Bonnie was too perplexed to respond.

While Damon just shook his head. "I don't understand."

Samantha pressed her lips together in a firm line, focusing on him. "Please, tell me your last name."

He casted a look in Bonnie's direction, Bonnie just shrugged, having zero clue what was going on now.

"Your last name, young man." Samantha repeated.

"Salvatore." He sighed. "My last name is, Salvatore."

Samantha gasped as it all game flooding back to her, like a dam breaking. "Salvatore, that's it, that's what familiar about you. That's how I saw you before in my life, through your mother. Years ago I met your mother and her name is Lily Salvatore!"

 **BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK**

 **I didn't expect this chapter to be over 100 pages long, lol, but I just write down everything that is planned out in my head, not knowing how long chapters may turn out to be. I can get carried away with the length of my chapters, but I just feel the need to write down all I have planned. Otherwise, it would feel incomplete in my mind.**

 **Hopefully, the long chapter will at least make up for your wait in having to wait for this update. I hope you enjoy this update, please leave feedback if you can. Thank you to all of those who have been reading and supporting this story. It is always appreciated!**


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